KEPOK BANANA FARMING ON ENGGANO ISLAND

Abstract

As one of the most remote areas in Indonesia and located in Bengkulu Province, Enggano Island has great potential in the agricultural sector. In the last decade, this Island is well known as kepok banana production center in Bengkulu. This research aims to find out the factors that affect the production of kepok banana farming, calculate the farming income, and analyze the level of kepok banana farming efficiency. The research was conducted on Enggano Island, North Bengkulu Regency, Bengkulu Province. 80 farmers from two villages (Meok and Banjarsari) were chosen as the respondents by Slovin sampling method. To analyze the factors affecting banana production, this research used the production functions of the Cobb-Douglas. The results showed that seeds and herbicides had a significant effect on kepok banana production. The results show that the income received by kepok banana farmers on Enggano Island is IDR 34,412,814.22 per hectare per year or the equivalent of IDR 2,867,734.52 per hectare per month. The R/C ratio is 9.35. This means that every IDR 1.00 incurred will result in receipts of IDR 9.35. The R/C ratio is more than 1, which means that the kepok bananas farming on Enggano Island, North Bengkulu Regency, Bengkulu Province is efficient. Farmers can increase the productivity of their farming business by increasing the optimal use of seed and herb control to achieve maximum profits. Then, the government should improve transportation facilities and infrastructure to Enggano Island so that the marketing system can run smoothly.