Farmer perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on agriculture: A case study from Madura Island, Indonesia

Abstract

The worldwide COVID-19 epidemic has had a great impact on farming and socioeconomic institutions all over the globe.This study aims to understand farmer knowledge and perceptions of the impacts of the one-year COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural systems. We purposefully picked 400 farmers from four regencies in Madura Island, Indonesia. The survey was administered from April to August 2021. Maize, rice, peanuts, tobacco, cassava, and chili peppers are the five most cultivated plants, while chicken and cattle are the main livestock raised. Farmers’ perceptions, measured on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1—not affected, to 5—severely affected), showed that COVID-19 had an average minor to moderate effect (average score of 2.49±0.9) on the agriculture system. The greatest impact is on farm income (average scale of 3.76±0.79), while the ability to plant crops in the upcoming season is the lowest (average scale of 1.2±0.56).

Role of Agriculture on Rural Household Food Security: A Systematic Review from Indonesia

“…Researchers conducted most of the studies in rural areas on Java (n = 10) [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36], and others being conducted in Sumatera [30], Kalimantan [30,37], Bali [38], Sulawesi [27,30,39], and Nusa Tenggara [30,40]. One study encompassed an international sample, involving participants from 14 distinct countries in the Asia-Pacific region [13].…”

“…One study encompassed an international sample, involving participants from 14 distinct countries in the Asia-Pacific region [13]. over half of the included studies gathered data from households of farmers [27,28,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. One study focused on general rural households [13], while one specific study focused on parent populations [29].…”

“…Others utilized telephone surveys or text-messages [13,[27][28][29]. Two studies collected data using online survey [33,34]. One study conducted a study case to collect the data [35].…”

“…Factors such as agricultural suitability and cultural farming practices in rural areas were strong reasons behind the availability of food stocks. Conversely, urban areas experienced obstacles in accessing food due to reduced incomes stemming from job losses in the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic [13,27,[32][33][34]. Additionally, the lockdown restrictions imposed by the government since the beginning of the pandemic affected traditional market transactions and local community activities to a lesser extent [29].…”

“…Carbohydrates constituted most of the food items stored by rural communities, but there was a reported decrease in protein consumption, such as fresh meat and fish [13,27,40]. Only one IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1324/1/012132 6 study reported the diversity of foods consumed by rural communities, ranging from carbohydrates, vegetables, and grains to fruits [34].…”