Technical efficiency of organic rice farming in Ngawi Regency (The case of the Komunitas Ngawi Organic Center)

Soil degradation fertility is a form of environmental damage due to climate change, ironically caused by the agricultural sector as the largest contributor to global warming. One of the efforts to overcome the problem of climate change issues in the agricultural sector is through organic rice farming practices. This study aims to analyze organic rice farming which includes farming profiles, influencing factors, and technical efficiency level of organic rice farming in Ngawi Regency which focuses on the Komunitas Ngawi Organic Center (KNOC). This study used a quantitative descriptive basic method with a census of all active member organic rice farmers of KNOC. The production factors of organic rice were analyzed using the Cobb-Douglass stochastic frontier production function. The results showed that in general the average organic rice farming profile on certified land was superior than non-certified land, with 1.96 R/C ratio on certified land, while 1.41 R/C ratio on non-certified land. The time it takes for land to become certified organic is three consecutive growing seasons applying supervised organic farming. Production factors that positively significantly influence organic rice farming are land area, labor, and organic pesticides. Excessive use of organic fertilizer input can increase the number of wild weeds on organic rice fields which can inhibit the growth of organic rice and reduce grain production. The level of technical efficiency achieved by respondent farmers varies widely between 0.57 - 0.93 with an average of 0.80 which is considered efficient.