Analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rice farming efficiency level: an empirical study in Central Java Province, Indonesia / Sucihatiningsih Dian Wisika Prajanti ... [et al.]

This research aimed to analyze the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the efficiency level of rice farming in Central Java Province. There were 100 rice farmers in Central Java as the research sample. The research consisted of dependent and independent variables. The dependent variable was the production of rice plants in tons. Meanwhile, the independent ones included harvested area (X1), workforces (X2), seeds (X3), urea fertilizer (X4), SP-36 fertilizer (X5), Mutiara fertilizer (X6), and pesticides (X7). The rice farming efficiency was the efficiency of cob-douglas production using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) approach. The results showed that the Covid-19 pandemic negatively influenced rice productivity. The value of technical efficiency in rice farming during the Covid-19 pandemic was 0.605 < 1. This indicated that the level of technical efficiency was achieved and required a reduction in the production factor. Next, the level of price efficiency in rice farming was also not efficient. It had a value of 21.55 > 1. It meant that to achieve price efficiency, it was necessary to add production inputs. The economic efficiency was still low because the value was 13.03 > 1. To realize an efficient rice farming business in terms of technical and economical aspects, the farmers should use an appropriate composition of production inputs. Therefore, the government must provide assistance and training to farmers on how to use rice agricultural production inputs based on appropriate portions and the right size.