The willingness of farmers to preserve sustainable food agricultural land in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract The land is one of the determining factors for sustainable agriculture. However, attention to the protection of agricultural land in economic development has not fully sided with the interests of agricultural development in the long term. The conversion of agricultural land because of the growth of the industrial and service sectors has displaced agricultural land, making this a serious problem for the existence and sustainability of agriculture. This study aims to analyze the willingness of farmers to maintain sustainable food agricultural land (SFAL) in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. This study can contribute thoughts in the formulation of sustainable agricultural development policies. The survey was conducted on rice farmers at 25 observation points from eight irrigation source rivers spread across the Special Region of Yogyakarta. A total of 125 rice farmers were taken at simple random as the sample of this study. The determinants of farmers’ willingness were analyzed using binomial logistic regression. The results of the analysis show that education, the distance to irrigation sources, rural areas, farm income, and access to credit are factors that influence the willingness of farmers to maintain SFAL, especially rice plants. Therefore, it is important for farmers to maintain sustainable food fields through various programs such as extension, farming credit, production price incentives, and the provision of good irrigation facilities.