INTRODUCTION Organic farming is an alternative that needs to be

Herry Maridjo: Increased productivity … 50

1. INTRODUCTION Organic farming is an alternative that needs to be

developed on an ongoing basis. In the long run, or- ganic farming can increase and maintain the level of production and fertility of agricultural land so that the farmers can be in a more stable economy. The transition period is one of the important things that should be known and understood in the process of converting from conventional farming to organic farming. Some previous studies conclude that dur- ing the transition period, the organic farming pro- duction is lower than the conventional one Neera et al. 1999; Padel 2001. Therefore, this research is in- tended to analyze the productivity and technical efficiency of organic rice farming as well as the ef- forts to improve the productivity and technical effi- ciency of organic rice farming through the applica- tion of agricultural intensification method or com- monly known as System of Rice Intensification SRI. The term economic productivity illustrates a comparison between output and input Rutkauskas and Paulaviciene 2005. Productivity in this study illustrates the relationship between the yield of rice production and the index of combined inputs for a variety of farming, particularly labor, capital and natural resources. The term technical efficiency illu- strates the ratio between observation farming pro- duction and the output production of frontier pro- duction function Syamsudin, Suryati, and Akti- viyani 2009. Organic rice farming is now increasingly ap- plied in various places in Indonesia and some of them use the planting method of System of Rice In- tensification SRI. Based on the result of the study conducted by Qingquan 2002 in Syamsudin et al. 2009, the farming using SRI method in China can produce between 10-12 tons of ricehectare. Rice cultivation trials by implementing SRI method in the eastern region of Indonesia can increase yields from 4.11 tonshectare to 7.27 tonshectare Syamsudin et al. 2009. Results of a study conducted by Syamsudin et al., 2009 in Sukakarsa Village, Tasikmalaya Dis- trict shows that the application of organic rice farm- ing requires a very large amount of compost approx- imately 5-10 tonshectare. This study is designed as an applied research through the application of fertilizer management system on organic rice farming with SRI planting method to increase productivity and technical effi- ciency of organic rice farming production in Purwo- rejo. Therefore, it requires a variety of social organi- zations and local governments to encourage organic rice farming in Purworejo, Central Java. This study is conducted because the problem of food safety and security is one of the national stra- tegic issues that must be dealt intensively and sus- tainably. Ironically, Indonesia, as an agricultural country, even still imports rice every year. Organic farming is an alternative to supply foodstuffs in or- der to be able to meet the needs of healthy living. Productivity and efficiency of organic rice farming still need to be improved through SRI method on an ongoing basis. Based on the above background, this research raises the title: Increased Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Rice Farming with the System of Rice Intensification SRI Method in Purworejo, Central Java. The formulation of the problem in this research is: Is there a significant difference in the level of productivity between organic rice farming and inor- ganic rice farming?; Is there a significant difference in the technical efficiency between organic rice farm- ing and inorganic rice farming?; How significant is the influence of fertilizer costs, labor costs, arable land area, and the length of the use of SRI method on the production of organic rice?

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPO- THESES