Economic feasibility of soybean cultivation using bio-pesticide technology

Pests and diseases are one of the obstacles to increase soybean productivity in Indonesia. Pests control by chemical pesticides requires high production cost resulted in a low profit of soybean farming; therefore, it is less favorable to farmers. The study aims to evaluate the economic feasibility of soybean farming using bio-pesticide in rainfed rice fields. The research was conducted in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, during the second dry season of 2018. The survey involved forty respondents. Three improved soybean varieties (Anjasmoro, Argomulyo, and Devon) and one local variety (Martoloyo) were evaluated on two cultivation technologies, namely bio-pesticide and existing. The results showed that the yield of existing technology was 2.18 t ha⁻¹ or 5.8% higher than the bio-pesticide (2.06 t ha⁻¹). Anjasmoro obtained the highest seed yield, i.e. 2.31 and 2.38 t ha-1, while the lowest was Argomulyo, i.e. 1.85 and 1.96 t ha-1, respectively for both bio-pesticide and existing technologies. The application of soybean cultivation using bio-pesticide technology and improved varieties provided a profit of IDR 8,785,300. The profit was 125.88% higher than the existing. Bio-pesticide and existing technologies (both for improved and local varieties) showed the R/C ratio >1, suggested that both technologies were feasible to be developed.