Marketing Vulnerability of Shallot Farming in Tapin Regency, South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract

Allium cepa (shallot) is an important commodity in Tapin Regency, South Kalimantan. Tapin Regency is a reliable shallot production area in South Kalimantan Province. Shallot farming is faced with uncertain climate conditions in Tapin Regency, which have an impact on changing the behavior of farmers in dealing with harvest and product marketing issues. Shallot production has decreased dramatically in the last five years in this area. Thus, it is urgent to identify the problems faced by farmers. To identify the existing problems, an analysis of shocks, exposure, responses, and impacts better known as the SERI analysis method was carried out. The research results showed that product marketing and government subsidies were problems that caused shocks due to unformed markets, simultaneous harvests, and an inability to compete with production from outside the region; furthermore, no longer receiving subsidies from the government prevented farmers from buying seeds due to the high price of seeds. The exposure experienced by the farmers was that the selling price became low, resulting in losses, and most farmers did not dare to continue to plant the next season's shallots. The response of the farmers to the shock conditions that occurred was that most of them sold cheap and lost money; there were a few who held back sales, while some surrendered, and almost all farmers switched to planting other commodities. The impact felt by farmers from these shocks was that their income decreased due to their loss, and there was no income from shallot farming. Buffer capacities that can be put in place to reduce the impact of these problems are actively seeking price and market information, forming marketing networks, adjusting planting times, adding product value by means of postharvest processing such as processing fried shallot or shallot paste, buying seeds by groups, using the best quality seeds, accessing financial institutions to obtain venture capital assistance, and conducting nurseries.