Evaluation and Development of Crop and Cattle Integration Model in the Rural Area of Sekotong Sub-district, West Lombok District, Indonesia
Authors
Abstract
The Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) activities has become the main source of income for the local people in Sekotong sub-district since 2008. However, the decreasing gold production enforce them to leave the ASGM activities and work back to the agricultural sector. The study aims to evaluate and develop a crop and beef cattle integration model in Sekotong sub-district, West Lombok district, Indonesia. The area was chosen purposively considering that Sekotong sub-district is the rural area of the district and had decreasing ASGM activities. The study was conducted with field research method consisted of case study, survey, in-depth interview and field observation to collect the data. In addition, the soil characteristics of Sekotong sub-district were also analyzed to determine the suitable crop in the proposed integrated system. The demographic, cattle population, crops availability, and farmer characteristics data were collected and potential crop and livestock integration model is proposed. The result showed that an integrated cattle and corn farming system under farmers group is recommended in order to increase cattle production and better farming management. In addition, other supporting farming practices which positively contribute to the system should be implemented in the model. The study concludes that an integrated cattle and corn farming model under guided farmer groups is recommended to support the farming practice by the local people who transitioned back from unsustainable ASGM into agricultural sector.
