Diversification of Rice System: A Sustainable Livelihood for Rice Farming Households in Indramayu District, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Agricultural development is a challenge and a way for sustainable livelihoods considering that increasingly narrow agricultural land causes agricultural productivity to decline. The rice diversification system is a solution to the potential byproducts of rice and cattle. The purpose of this research is to explain rice system diversification in increasing farming productivity as an alternative solution. There were two secondary dataused. Rice production and beef cattle production were from the Central Statistics Agency in West Java Province and Indramayu district (2013-2017). The development of beef cattle was supported by the Organic Fertilizer Processing Unit program (2013-2017). The secondary data were analyzed descriptively. The results of this study were positive beef cattle population growth of 18.43 percent during the period 2013-2017, the average number of beef cattle per year as much as 11,012 tails, the average amount of beef cattle manure per year in solid form as much as 116,943,192 tons and liquid as much as 55,894,882 liters and the population of beef cattle still needs to be increased because the amount of solid manure of freshly available beef cattle could be absorbed as much as 3.35 percent for increased productivity of rice fields. Indonesian government assistance was very much needed by rice farmers groups in carrying out a rice diversification system through the Organic Fertilizer Processing Unit program. Furthermore, the potential for rice straw and cattle livestock to become additional income and new sustainable livelihoods for rural farming households.. KEYWORDS :Diversification, Farming productivity, Rice system, Livelihood sustainability, Farmer household.