Strategi Bertahan Hidup Petani Jagung guna Meningkatkan Kesejahteraan Petani di Desa Totap Majawa, Kecamatan Tanah Jawa, Kabupaten Simalungun

Abstract

The loss of livelihoods is one of the main factors causing rural communities to experience economic vulnerability. However, amid these conditions, people strive to change their livelihoods as a form of adaptation to improve their household economy. One of the areas that has undergone a livelihood transformation is Totap Majawa Village, where the community, which previously depended on tilapia fish farming, has shifted to corn cultivation. In practice, corn farming faces various challenges such as low selling prices, long harvest periods, high capital needs, and pest attacks. These conditions do not discourage farmers but instead motivate them to implement several survival strategies to improve their welfare. This study aims to describe the forms of survival strategies adopted by corn farmers in Totap Majawa Village, Simalungun Regency. The research used a qualitative descriptive approach, with data collected through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation. The results show that corn farmers in Totap Majawa Village apply three main types of survival strategies: (1) diversification, by engaging in additional work outside the corn farming sector; (2) food stock preservation, by selling part of the harvest to buy staple food and dividing their farmland to reduce the risk of crop failure; and (3) social networking, by building reciprocal relationships with fellow farmers and middlemen to facilitate the distribution of harvests. These strategies to economic uncertainty and represent efforts to improve the welfare of corn farmers in the village.