Konstruksi dan Variasi Pengetahuan pada Petani Salak Pondoh di Desa Kutambaru, Kecamatan Tiganderket, Kabupaten Karo

Abstract

This paper discusses the construction and variation of knowledge on salak pondoh farmers in Kutambaru Village. Emically, each farmer has its own knowledge that develops with the times and technology. The main reason i am interested in researching this topic is because salak pondoh farmers have local knowledge that develops from one to another through the process of knowledge transfer. Sources of information are initially obtained from relatives, from fellow farmers who gather during evacuation, from fertilizer shop, and experiences during farming are accumulated to produce new knowledge. The process of knowledge construction and variation is interesting to study because knowledge is dynamic, which will always continue to change, so there will always be various ways to develop knowledge so that variations in knowledge will continue to occur. This research uses qualitative methods with fieldwork. The initial process of preparing the thesis, collecting field data until data retrieval takes a total of five months. The data collection techniques used were direct observation and interviews as outlined in field notes. Key informants are salak pondoh farmers whom I have categorized according to the length of land ownership and management as well as the period of planting salak pondoh. Tokeh salak pondoh, hawker, and members of the village council also became key informants to explain the distribution process of salak pondoh and the historical side of the village. This research used secondary data on the village area and population obtained from the staff of the Kutambaru Village Head's office. Literature study was also conducted to increase the understanding of the concept of knowledge construction and variation as well as cases of farmers. The results of this study indicate that kindship relations and the influence of the internet are important factors in the knowledge construction process of salak pondoh farmers in Kutambaru Village. There are some farmers who believe more in the knowledge gained from their relatives, and there are also farmers who believe more in the sources of knowledge obtained from the internet because it has been scientifically tested. The sources of information are sorted and selected, then adjusted by each farmer, with a continuous process of trial and error on their respective fields. Satisfactory results are retained and unsatisfactory results are abandoned. Even within the same farmer, they have different techniques and methods that are applied to different lands by adjusting the topological conditions of the land, the level of soil fertility, and the agroecological conditions of each land. Thus, the application of this knowledge results in knowledge diversity. This diversity is not only seen between farmers, but there is also diversity carried out by the same farmers on different lands. The process occurs because of the learning process, where knowledge will continue to undergo refinement or improvement so that farmers will continue to be required to creatively change, modify, and adjust their knowledge