Development and Improvement of Upland Rice Productivity through
Dry Land Utilization
Dedi Kusbiantoro
1
, Dian Hendrawan
1
, Khairunnisyah
1
, Martha Adiwati Sihaloho
2
, Yenni Asbur
3
,
Nurhayati
3
, Rahmi Dwi Handayani Rambe
3
, Syamsafitri
3
1
Departement of Agribusiness, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara, Jalan Karya Wisata Gedung
Johor, Medan 20144, Indonesia.
2
Departement of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Amir Hamzah , Jl. Pancing Pasar V Barat, Medan
Estate, Kenangan Baru, Percut Sei Tuan, Kab. Deli Serdang 20219, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia
3
Departement of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara, Jalan Karya Wisata Gedung
Johor, Medan 20144, Indonesia.
Keywords: Upland Rice, Dryland, Conservation Technique.
Abstract: Development of functional rice agro industry requires simultaneous economic and socio-cultural approach.
The economic approach alone will not be effective because consumption behaviour of household is
influenced by tastes and socio-cultural values that shape eating habits. Land use conversion causes rice field
narrow therefore it needs to be directed to dry land. Dry land cultivation is critical to meet food for
increasing population while supporting food security. Multifunction of dry land farming needs to be seen in
broader dimension that is, besides providing food, also having services or benefits to the environment, either
biophysical, chemical or socio-economic approach. Efforts to improve productivity in dry land can be done
with land use under oil palm stands, marginal land utilization, and application of soil conservation
techniques.
1 INTRODUCTION
Upland rice has important role in the Indonesian
people's agricultural system. Dry land can be utilized
for extension of rice through cultivation. Upland rice
is usually planted solely on open land/fields,
watersheds, or intercropping with crops or young
plantation tree. Currently, upland rice farmers are
difficult to obtain high quality varieties so that
farmers cannot manage their farm as expected,
including applying the recommended technology.
Development of functional rice agro-industry
requires simultaneous economic and socio-cultural
approach. The economic approach alone will not be
effective because consumption behaviour of
household is influenced by tastes and socio-cultural
values that shape eating habits. Land use conversion
causes rice field narrow therefore it needs to be
directed to dry land. On the other hand, socio-
cultural approach desperately needs the support of
economic approach because the motives of
individual, family, or community action are heavily
depending on economic considerations. In the socio-
cultural approach, the tastes and eating habits are
related to the perceptions of individuals, families,
and society and the first step to be taken is to change
such perceptions.
Land use conversion causes the narrowness of
rice field so it needs to be directed to dry land.
According to Puslitbangtan (Puslitbangtan, 2005),
the potential of dry land in Indonesia is quite large,
namely 55.6 million hectares spreading in various
provinces and about 11 million ha is potential to be
developed as an upland rice field. Such rice is one of
the varieties in dry land. Upland rice is generally
grown once a year at the beginning of the rainy
season (Prasetyo. 2002).
Utilization of dry land is one of the resources
that has great potential for stabilizing food self-
sufficiency and for future agricultural development.
Food needs have been supported by paddy fields,
which in their production require characteristics of
land with a high fertility rate. Characteristics of rice
cultivation limit the opportunities for increased rice
Kusbiantoro, D., Hendrawan, D., Khairunnisyah, ., Sihaloho, M., Asbur, Y., Nurhayati, ., Rambe, R. and Syamsafitri, .
Development and Improvement of Upland Rice Productivity through Dry Land Utilization.
DOI: 10.5220/0008883101330137
In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research (ICMR 2018) - , pages 133-137
ISBN: 978-989-758-437-4
Copyright
c
 2020 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
133

production through the expansion of rice fields. This
is because the narrow reserve area is suitable to be
used as rice fields and the increasingly intense
competition for water use with industry, mining, and
households (Abdurachman et al. 2008).
Due to large potential of the land and the
opportunity to develop upland rice farming, strategy
that needs to be pursued is improvement of
intensification and extension program. Information
on agricultural technology that has not been used by
farmers is also an opportunity to develop upland rice
farming. On the other hand, increasing added value
of agricultural products can be achieved by food
diversification. Based on this, the research aims to
study the utilization of dry land for the development
of upland rice.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
Description on upland rice development through dry
land utilization is obtained from various literatures
and research finding. Research methods are
literature review from various sources, then analyzed
and described in scientific writing.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Opportunities and Challenges of
Upland Rice Development on Dry
Land
Dry land management needs to be done to meet the
food needs of increasing population while
supporting food security. Indonesia's population
grew by 1.34% per year (BPS. 2006), while there
was a change in the consumption pattern from non-
rice to rice, increasing irrigated land conversion for
non-agricultural purposes, and decreasing wet land
productivity. In the period 1981-1999, there has
been a conversion of rice land to other use as much
as 1.6 million ha (Irawan et al. 2001). Assuming the
productivity of rice fields is 6.0 t/ha of dry harvested
grains (DHG), there has been a loss of production by
9.6 million tons of DHG/year (Agus et al. 2004).
The problem of reducing food production needs to
be overcome by improving rice field’s productivity,
creating new rice field and management and
development of other potential land including dry
land.
BPS data (Kontan. 2011) shows that the area of
rice fields in 2010 was around 12.87 million ha.
However, according to the agriculture minister
(Suswono. 2011) the area of raw rice fields is 6.7
million hectares while in order to achieve food
security until 2025 requires an additional rice field
of 5.875 million hectares. On the other hand, the
increasing number of population will be a threat to
Indonesia, where Indonesia's population growth rate
currently reaches 1, 4%.
3.1.1 Water Availability
Population growth, especially in developing
countries, increases domestic water consumption
both for agriculture and industrial production and
processing. Water pollution will be higher so that the
quantitatively available water is unusable or costly
to process to be used. All of these are limiting
factors for production in agricultural sector (Bouwer.
2000).
Water is a physical component that is very
important and needed in large quantities for plant
growth and development. Water also functions as a
plant temperature stabilizer (Suhartono. 2008).
Ariffin (Ariffin, 2002) suggest that plants that lack
water will trigger the formation of abscisic acid
inhibiting hormones and inhibitors of growth
stimulating hormones.
3.1.2 Poor Agricultural Practices
High pressure demand on agricultural land causes
annual crop is not only to be cultivated on flat land,
but also on slopes > 16%, which should be used for
annual crops or forests tree. Overall, flat to rolling
dry land covers a total area of 31.5 million ha
(Hidayat and Mulyani. 2002), but their use is
contested for agriculture, settlement, industry,
mining, and other sectors. In general, farmers and
dry land farming competitiveness is much lower
than other sectors, so agriculture is pushed into steep
slopes.
Soil erosion rates increase with the development
of farming practices that are not accompanied by the
conservation techniques application, such as slash
and burn system in outside Java. Even in settled
agricultural systems, application of land
conservation techniques has not been the custom of
farmers and has not yet been regarded as an
important practice in agriculture.
3.2 Problems Solving
Based on the available resources, budget
capabilities, risks and uncertainties such as climate
change, opportunities to improve upland rice
ICMR 2018 - International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research
134

farming productivity in oil palm plantations are still
very open. Without the support of infrastructure and
pricing policy applied to rice, spectacularly
development of harvested area and productivity of
upland rice are quite difficult to achieve. Challenge
of production aspect faced in this context is how to
increase the production of functional upland rice to
reach food security status (food sovereignty) that is
the ratio of food reserve to the use is up to 20%.
3.2.1 Upland Rice Planting under Tree
Stand
Expansion of planting areas towards fertile land is
difficult; therefore efforts to increase national food
production must utilize untapped potential land,
among others under plantation tree. Role of upland
rice as food stuff must be improved by increasing
productivity and expanded planting (harvest) area in
oil palm plantation area. According to Wasito
(Wasito, 2013), intercropping of upland rice farming
with oil palm plantations in District of Hinai,
Langkat regency showedgood agronomic
performance. Such intercropping is in rain fed land
using Ciherang varieties with productivity around 2-
3 tons/Ha at non rain season. In contrast, at rainy
season, the productivity is 3-4 tons/Ha. The
existence of rice integration program on oil palm
plantations is expected to create synergism or
mutually beneficial linkages. Integration of upland
rice in oil palm tree in tidal area has great prospects
to be developed and expected to increase food
availability, farmer welfare, and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions (Balittra, 2013).
3.2.2 Utilization of Marginal Land
Main constraint on dry land is low intensity of light
due to shade factor, high soil acidity and drought
threats. Increasing production on marginal land,
including land under annual crop stands, can be
achieved through improvements: (1) potential yields,
(2) rates of crop adaptation to abiotic and biotic
stress, and (3) cultivation techniques based on
physiology or eco-physiology knowledge (Sopandi
and Trikoesoemaningtyas. 2011).
Unlike rice fields with relatively high fertility,
uniform, and often flooded, generally dry land has
low fertility rate, low organic matter content, and
difficult to maintain so that productivity is rapidly
declining, and farmers choose to leave it as
idle/critical land. On sloped land and no adequate
conservation measures, the land is easily degraded,
both chemically and physically. In addition, water
supply is also inconsistent, as it depends on rainfall.
Currently, the productivity of dry land is
relatively low or not yet optimal (Mulyani. 2005;
Dariah and Las. 2010; Mulyani and Sarwani. 2013).
The fertile dry land area is also increasingly limited,
so the choice falls on the suboptimal dry land, i.e.
land that has low productivity due to internal
(intrinsic) factors such as parent material, physical,
chemical and biological soil properties, and external
factors such as extreme rainfall and temperatures
(Mulyani. 2013). Therefore, technological
innovation is required to overcome these limiting
factors to be utilized for agricultural development.
Such suboptimal land needs rehabilitation efforts to
increase its productivity.
Multifunction of dry land farming needs to be
seen in the context of a broader dimension, that is,
besides as food provider, it also has services or
benefits to the environment, either biophysical,
chemical and socio-economic environments (Agus et
al. 2003). As agricultural producers, dry land
contributes to food security, economic buffer, social
and cultural value (Irawan et al. 2004). As an
environmental service provider, dry land functions
in erosion control, flood mitigation, biodiversity and
recyclers of organic materials (Notohadinegoro.
2000; Agus et al. 2004). The soil is capable to clean
the waste from substances or pollutants by filtering,
absorbing, and/or disentangling. Thus the land is
able to act as an environmental sanitation factor
(Notohadinegoro. 2000).
3.2.3 Utilization of Conservation Techniques
Vegetative soil conservation techniques are the use
of crops and plant residues as soil protector medium
from erosion, inhibition of runoff, improve moisture
content, and improve soil physical, chemical and
biological properties. Soil chemical conservation
technique is the use of chemicals, both organic and
inorganic, which aims to improve soil properties in
suppressing the rate of erosion. This technique is
rarely used because it is quite expensive and the
result is almost the same as the use of natural
materials. Chemicals included in this category are
soil conditioners.
Water scarcity is often a major limitation in dry
land management. Therefore, technological
innovations in water and climate management are
needed, including water harvesting techniques,
supplementary irrigation, climate prediction, and
determination of planting time and land management
techniques. Harvesting can be done by harvesting
rainwater or surface runoff at temporary or
Development and Improvement of Upland Rice Productivity through Dry Land Utilization
135

permanent shelters, to be used for irrigating crops
(Subagyono et al. 2004).
Besides the water availability, other things that
become obstacles in dry land farming are low
nutrients and organic material availability. Efforts
are made is fertilizer application, both inorganic and
organic fertilizer. According to Norsalis (2011),
fertilizer used in upland rice framing should be
combined between inorganic and organic fertilizer.
Provision of organic fertilizer (manure, compost and
green) can improve physical, chemical and
biological properties. Meanwhile, inorganic fertilizer
can provide nutrients in quick time.
The simple land resource technology to control
erosion and improve dry land productivity is the use
of organic materials. Mulch, organic waste, compost
and manure (organic matter) are able to control soil
erosion, improve soil physical and chemical
properties and increase crop production. Mulch from
various materials, among others, residue of crops on
dry land farm are intended to protect soil from
external forces such as rainfall splash that reduce
soil fertility and rooting. The role of crop residues
used as mulch in agricultural lands, especially on dry
land has been quite widely. Organic mulch includes
all agricultural waste materials that are economically
less useful such as rice straw, corn stalks, peanut
stalks, banana leaf leaves and midribs, sugarcane
leaves, reeds, kirinyu leaves and sawdust. With the
presence of mulch material above the soil surface,
the rainwater energy will be retained by the mulch
material so that the soil aggregate remains stable and
avoids the process of destruction and erosion. The
use of mulch will also maintain the condition of the
soil's microclimate such as temperature and soil
moisture so that the soil does not dry quickly and is
not easily cracked (Jajang, 2009).
The soil temperature in the root area is important
for plant growth and development because it affects
physiological processes in plant roots such as taking
water and mineral nutrients from the soil (Diaz-
Perez and Batal, 2002). Soil that is given platinum
mulch and organic mulch, is able to increase the soil
temperature between 1.20 - 4.19 ºC higher than soil
without mulch. Soil temperature is one of the
important micro-soil environmental factors because
it influences: soil moisture, soil aeration, soil
structure, activity of microorganisms, enzymes, and
availability of nutrients. Soil moisture is available to
plants in rice straw mulch higher than other mulch
and controls. Soil moisture that is sufficiently
available in the rhizosphere stimulates plant growth
and yield.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Efforts to improve productivity of upland rice in dry
land can be done with land use under oil palm
stands, marginal land utilization, and application of
soil conservation techniques using organic mulch.
REFERENCES
Abdurachman A, Dariah A, Mulyani A. 2008. Strategi dan
teknologi pengelolaan lahan kering mendukung
pengadaan pangan nasional. J Litbang Pert 27(2): 43-
49.
Agus, F., Surmaini, E., Sutrisno, N., 2005. Teknologi
Hemat Air dan Irigasi Suplemen. Hlm. 223−245.
Dalam Teknologi Pengelolaan Lahan Kering: Menuju
Pertanian Produktif Dan Ramah Lingkungan. Pusat
Penelitian Dan Pengembangan Tanah Dan
Agroklimat, Bogor.
Ariffin. 2002. Cekaman Air dan Kehidupan Tanaman.
Fakultas Pertanian Universitas Brawijaya. Malang.
hal. 1- 12
Balittra (Balai Penelitian Tanaman Rawa), 2013. Prospek
Pengembangan Padi Dan Sapi Diantara Tanaman
Kelapa Sawit Pada Lahan Rawa Pasang Surut. Balittra
Banjarbaru, Kalimantan Selatan.
Bouwer, H., 2000. Integrated water management:
emerging issues and Water Management 45(3):217-
228.
Badan Pusat Statistik. 2006. Sensus Pertanian (ST) 2006.
Badan Pusat Statistik Indonesia. Jakarta.
Constantinensco, I., 1976. Soil Conservation for
Developing Countries. FAO Soil Buletin No. 30.
Dariah, A., Las, I., 2010. Ekosistem lahan kering sebagai
Pendukung Pembangunan Pertanian. Hlm. 46-66
dalam Membalik Kecenderungan Degradasi
Sumberdaya Lahan dan Air. Badan Litbang Pertanian.
IPB-Press.
Diaz-Perez, J.C., K. D. Batal, 2002. Colored plastic fill
mulches affect tomato growth and yield via changes in
root-zone temperature. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 127
(1): 127-136
Hidayat, A., Mulyani, A., 2002. Lahan kering untuk
pertanian. hlm. 1−34. Dalam A. Abdurachman,
Mappaona, dan Saleh (Ed.). Pengelolaan Lahan
Kering Menuju Pertanian Produktif dan Ramah
Lingkungan. Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan
Tanah dan Agroklimat, Bogor.
Irawan, B., Friyatno, S., Supriyatna, A., Anugrah, I.S.,
Kirom, N.A., Rachmanto, B., Wiryono, B., 2001.
Perumusan Model Kelembagaan Reservasi Lahan
Pertanian. Laporan Hasil Penelitian. Pusat Penelitian
Sosial Ekonomi Pertanian. Badan Penelitian dan
Pengembangan. Bogor.
Jajang S.H. 2009. Pengaruh Jenis Mulsa Terhadap
Pertumbuhan dan Hasil Tiga Kultivar Kentang
ICMR 2018 - International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research
136

(Solanum tuberosum L.) yang Ditanam di Dateran
Medium. Jurnal Agronomi Indonesia 37(1):14-20.
Kontan. 2011. Peringatan Krisis Pangan dating Lagi.
Harian Bisnis dan Investasi kontan Rabu 26 januari
2011. m-padi-di-polibag-1632 Pertanian.
Las, I., Purba, S., Sugiharto, B., Hamdani, A., 2000.
Proyeksi kebutuhan dan pasokan pangan tahun
2000−2020. Pusat Penelitian Tanah dan Agroklimat,
Bogor.
Mulyani, A., 2005. Potensi Lahan Kering Masam untuk
Pengembangan Pertanian. Warta Penelitian dan
Pengembangan Pertanian vol 28 no 2.
Mulyani, A. 2013. Karakteristik dan potensi lahan kering
beriklim kering untuk pengembangan pertanian di
Nusa Tenggara Timur. Hlm. 593-600 dalam Prosiding
Seminar Nasional Inovasi Pertanian Lahan Kering.
Kupang 4-5 September 2012. Balai Besar Pengkajian
dan Pengembangan Teknologi Pertanian. Badan
Penelitian dan Pengembangan Pertanian. Kementrian
Pertanian.
Mulyani, A., Sarwani, M., 2013. Karakteristik dan potensi
lahan suboptimal untuk pengembangan pertanian di
Indonesia. Jurnal Sumberdaya Lahan 7(1): 47-58.
Norsalis, E., 2011. Padi Gogo dan Padi Sawah.
Melaluihttp://skp.unair.ac.id/repository/GuruIndonesia
/Padigogodansawah_ekonorsalis_17170.pdf
[07/05/15].
Notohadinegoro, T., 2000. Diagnostik Fisik Kimia dan
Hayati Kerusakan Lahan. Makalah pada Seminar
Pengusutan Kriteria Kerusakan Tanah/Lahan,
Asmendep I LH/Bapedal. 1-3 Juli 1999. Yogyakarta.
Hlm. 54-61.
Prasetyo, Y.T., 2002. Bertanam Padi Gogo Tanpa Olah
Tanah. Penebar Swadaya, Jakarta.
Puslitbangtan., 2005. Peluang menuju swasembada beras
berkelanjutan. Warta Penelitian dan Pengembangan
Pertanian 27(5):12-14.
Samsudin, E., Karama, A.S., 1966. Budidaya hemat air
dan panen hujan dalam pertanian. Hal.69 – 76. Dalam
Prosiding Seminar Nasional Gerakan Hemat Air.
Sopandi, D., Trikoesoemaningtyas, 2011. Pengembangan
Tanaman Sela di Bawah Tegakan Tanaman Tahunan.
Iptek Tanaman Pangan 6(2): 168 – 182.
Subagyono, K., Haryati, U., Talao'ohu, S.H., 2004.
Teknologi konservasi air pada pertanian lahan kering.
hlm. 151−188. Dalam Konservasi Tanah pada Lahan
Kering Berlereng. Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan
Tanah dan Agroklimat, Bogor.
Suhartono. 2008. Pengaruh Interval Pemberian Air
Terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Hasil Tanaman Kedelai
(Glycine max (L) Merril) Pada Berbagai Jenis Tanah.
Jurnal Embryo. Vol, 5 (1).
Suswono. 2011. Pernyataan Menteri Pertanian pada
pembukaan Kongres kehutanan Indonesia ke 5 tanggal
22 Nopember 2011. Harian Kompas 23 Nopember.
Suwardjo, H., 1981. Peranan Sisa-Sisa Tanaman dalam
Konservasi Tanah dan Air pada Usahatani Tanaman
Semusim. Disertasi Fakultas Pasca Sarjana IPB.
Bogor.
Wasito. 2013. Diversifikasi Pangan Berbasis Pemanfaatan
Lahan Sela Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit Dengan
Tanaman Pangan di Kabupaten Langkat Sumatera
Utara. p. 527 – 545. dalam M. Ariani, K. Suradisastra,
N. Sutrisno, R. Hendayana, H. Soeparno, dan E.
Pasandaran (editor) Diversifikasi Pangan dan
Transformasi Pembangunan Pertanian. 2013. Badan
Penelitian dan Pengembangan Pertanian, Kementerian
Pertanian. IAARD Press. Jakarta.
Development and Improvement of Upland Rice Productivity through Dry Land Utilization
137