Determining Sustainability Index of Tobacco Planted in Various Types of Land Typology in Pamekasan, Madura

Abstract

Economic importance of tobacco plantation has long been undeniable for East Java. In this province, especially in Madura, Pamekasan constitutes one of the greatest tobacco producers, cultivated in many types of farm typology such as sawah, tegal, and gunung. This current study aimed at investigating sustainability index of tobacco planted in various land typologies in Pamekasan. Data were collected using in-depth interview and focus group discussion. The study was conducted in Pamekasan, Madura, between April 2016 and March 2016. Data obtained were evaluated using Rap-Tobacco (derived from Rap-Fish) commonly known as Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS), covering ecological, social economy, institutional and policy, and technological aspects. The results demonstrated that the highest sustainability index was observed at technological dimension, reaching up to 66.99 (sawah), 55.97 (tegal) and 58.13 (gunung). Although tobacco farming was sustainable in terms of technological dimension, more advanced technological supports might help it to reach a meaningful improvement, such as the use of information system for generating accurate climate data, as well as production and better distribution of proper tobacco seeds. Statistically, stress value was found <0.25%, while R2 value ranged from 92% to 94%. In short, we could conclude that the present model successfully fitted the testing data and could satisfactorily calculate sustainability index.