PERAN PENYULUH PERTANIAN PADA USAHATANI JAGUNG DI DESA ALEBO KECAMATAN KONDA KABUPATEN KONAWE SELATAN

Abstract

Agricultural extension officers play a strategic role in supporting the development of maize farming through information dissemination, farmer assistance, facilitating access to resources, introducing innovations, and strengthening farmers’ motivation. Alebo Village, Konda District, South Konawe Regency, is one of the areas with considerable potential for maize development. However, maize farming activities still face various challenges related to technology adoption, the use of production inputs, farm management, and access to information and markets. This study aimed to analyze the role of agricultural extension officers in maize farming in Alebo Village. The study population consisted of 195 maize farmers, while the sample comprised 66 respondents selected using random sampling and the Slovin formula with a 10% margin of error. Data were collected through surveys, questionnaires, observations, interviews, and documentation. The data were analyzed using quantitative descriptive analysis based on five indicators of the role of agricultural extension officers, namely educator, organizer, innovator, motivator, and facilitator. The results showed that the role of agricultural extension officers as educators was categorized as high, with 46.97% of respondents, while the organizer role was categorized as high at 42.42%, the innovator role at 48.48%, and the motivator role at 53.03%. Meanwhile, the facilitator role was predominantly categorized as low, accounting for 57.58% of respondents. These findings indicate that agricultural extension officers have played an important role in providing education, organizing farmer groups, introducing innovations, and strengthening farmers’ motivation. However, their role in facilitating farmers’ access to market information, production inputs, agricultural assistance, and marketing opportunities remains suboptimal. Strengthening the facilitator role of agricultural extension officers is therefore necessary through increased intensity of farmer assistance, expanded access to information and production inputs, strengthened institutional linkages, and the development of marketing networks to ensure that agricultural extension services provide more effective and sustainable support for maize farming development in Alebo Village.