The mechanization of small-scale rice farming: Labor requirements and costs

This research examines the availability of mechanical power and estimates the labor requirements and costs for small-scale rice farming operations in Riau Province, Indonesia. In 2010, we interviewed 120 farmers from the Siak and Kampar Regencies to collect data. We found that farming operations are predominantly performed by human labor because of the lack of farm machines. Between 2001 and 2010, the average availability of mechanical power was just 0.31 hp/ha and this only increased by 0.75% annually. Therefore, annual rice farming operations required 83.26 man-days/ha compared with 7 machine-days/ha. The total cost per hectare for these operations was IDR 7,895,830 (US $877), contributed mostly by labor costs. Farmers should thus adopt more machines to save labor, time, and cost.