ECONOMIC IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF INTEGRATED CROP MANAGEMENT FARMER FIELD SCHOOL PROGRAM ON CORN PRODUCTION IN INDONESIA

Domestic supply of corn in Indonesia has not been able to meet demand satisfactorily due to demand rising faster than supply. Therefore, Indonesia has been continuously importing corn about of 10% of the total demand. To address this problem, the Indonesian government started to implement the Farmer Field School of Integrated Crop Management (ICM-FFS) program on corn production since 2009. This study aimed to assess the impact of ICM-FFS on corn productivity, comparative and competitive advantages to produce corn as well as farmer’s income. The study found that ICM-FFS program could increase corn productivity by 30.95% of non ICM-FFS farms, of which 27.94% contributed by the difference in input use, while only 3.01% contributed by technological change. ICM-FFS farms were able to increase farmer’s income by 71.03% and social welfare by 94.69% compared to non ICM-FFS farms. Through this program, Indonesia had higher comparative advantage in producing corn as an import substitute. The provision of competitive input and output markets, enhanced technical assistance to improve corn productivity and quality, and increasing attention on corn ICM-FFS development could be considered as policy directions to improve the next implementation strategies of corn production in Indonesia.