Milk cooperatives in Indonesia serve to help farmers starting from seed selection, counseling, providing feed, animal health, marketing fresh milk, and processed products, to savings and loans units. Good cooperative performance is to be able to prosper and increase the income of members, especially dairy farmers through partnerships.
Cooperative partnership activities are carried out by helping farmers both material and non-material. Material assistance is in the form of capital assistance in purchasing feed and seeds, while non-material assistance is training, mentoring, and supervision by the cooperative.
This was written by a Lecturer at the University of Kanjuruhan Malang, Dimas Pratidina P.H., S.Pt., M.M in a dissertation report entitled “Analysis of Partnerships and Participation of Dairy Farmers towards Cooperative Performance to Increase Farmer Income Sustainably”.
Together with supervisors Prof. M. Nur Ihsan, Prof. Puguh Surjowardojo, and (Alm). Dr. Bambang Ali Nugroho he conducted research in Kemiri Village, Jabung District, Malang Regency. Because there is one of the most milk-producing villages in Jabung District, where almost all farmers join the Jabung Agro Niaga Cooperative (KAN).
He said that based on preliminary observations, several problems were found facing breeders. Among them is the increase in the price of concentrate feed, the quality of milk production which is sometimes not following cooperative standards, the lack of farmer participation in cooperative partnerships, and the management of livestock is still people’s nature due to the low quality of human resources.
“This condition causes low income received by farmers,” he said.
Dimas conducted a survey using a questionnaire to 164 breeders who are members of KAN Jabung. The variables observed included cooperative partnerships, farmer participation, cooperative performance, and farmer income.
“From these data, it can be concluded that cooperative partnerships and farmer participation directly affect cooperative performance and farmer income. However, it indirectly does not affect the income of farmers through the performance of cooperatives,” said Dimas.
Dimas conducted a hybrid dissertation open exam, Thursday (21/7/2022). He is a doctoral student of animal science at the Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Brawijaya (Fapet UB). (dta)