ADOPTION OF THE PsPSP PACKAGE, PRODUCTIVITY, AND FARM FEASIBILITY OF SMALLHOLDER COCOA IN LUWU, SOUTH SULAWESI
Published:
2026-08-28Downloads
Abstract
Smallholder cocoa productivity in Indonesia remains low, and the PsPSP cultural-control package (frequent harvesting, pruning, sanitation, fertilisation) is usually evaluated as a single bundle, so adoption of its individual components is rarely reported. This study describes adoption of the PsPSP components and their relationship with productivity and farm feasibility among smallholder cocoa farmers in Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi. Data were collected from 92 respondents across five cocoa-producing sub-districts. The sample was drawn with the Slovin formula from 1,165 mapped cocoa garden polygons, stratified by land cover and land suitability. Distributions are reported as medians with interquartile ranges. Only two components could be quantified, and adoption was uneven: fertilization was almost universal (91.3%) but overwhelmingly inorganic (organic fertilization only 7.6%), whereas pruning was practiced by fewer than half of the respondents (47.8%). Garden sanitation and frequent harvesting could not be quantified because these variables were not recorded. Median productivity was 226 kg/ha/year, less than one third of the smallholder average reported previously. Tree populations fell below the recommendation for 93.4% of respondents, while median stand age was only 11 years, indicating that planting density rather than stand age is the binding constraint. The enterprise is feasible on a cash cost basis (R/C 4.51), but only because reference cash costs are low; with a median garden of 0.44 ha the income actually received had a median of IDR 1.97 million per year, far below the provincial minimum wage. Production figures are self-reported, as 98.4% of producing respondents keep no farm records.
Keywords:
Cocoa Pod Borer Farm feasibility Luwu Regency PsPSP Smallholder CocoaReferences
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