Agricultural Extension and Farmer Group Performance: Empirical Evidence from Kubu Raya District, Indonesia

Agricultural development in Indonesia relies heavily on effectively integrating agricultural extension services. The quality of these services is shaped by the strength of extension institutions, including organizational structures, operational mechanisms and the extent to which farmer groups and their members are engaged as target beneficiaries. The study aims to investigate agricultural extension instructors activities, evaluate farmer groups performance and analyze the relationship between extension activities and farmer group performance in Kubu Raya District, Indonesia.

The research was conducted at Tanjungpura University, with the study site located in Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The research period was 2023. A total of 37 agricultural extension officers were involved and selected using a simple random sampling technique. The range criterion method was employed to assess the activities of agricultural extension officers and the level of performance improvement among farmer groups. Furthermore, a chi-square test with cross-tabulation analysis was applied to examine the association between extension officer activities and farmer group performance.

Agricultural extension activities were assessed through administrative and reporting activities and farmer group development activities. All scores fell within neutral, positive and very positive categories. The Chi-Square test results indicated that the activities of agricultural extension agents had a significant relationship with farmer group performance in Kubu Raya District, Indonesia, at α 0.05 significance level. The strength of this relationship, based on the contingency coefficient, was 0.93.