Persistensi Petani: Rasionalisasi Usaha Tani Tembakau di Cepit-Pagergunung, Bulu, Temanggung

Pangeran Putra Perkasa Alam Nasution, Prof. Dr. Heddy Shri Ahimsa-Putra, M.A., M.Phil.

2024 | Disertasi | S3 Ilmu-ilmu Humaniora

Kegiatan usaha tani tembakau secara ekonomi kini tidak lagi mumpuni, namun tanaman tembakau masih saja menjadi pilihan utama bagi masyarakat petani di Cepit-Pagergunung, Temanggung. Kondisi asimetrik antara penurunan nilai ekonomi tembakau tidak menyurutkan kegigihan petani mempertahankan usaha tani tembakau. Penelitian ini dengan demikian bertujuan memahami persistensi petani mempertahankan usaha tani tembakau dalam tata perniagaan yang manipulatif disertai kontinuitas ekonomi sirkulasi utang.

Demi mencapai tujuan tersebut, kegiatan pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui studi pustaka dan riset etnografis dengan metode pengumpulan data meliputi pengamatan terlibat, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Pumpunan data kemudian dianalisis secara konjungtif yang meliputi dimensi historis, simbolis, dan politis. Selanjutnya, uraian analisis disajikan dengan deskripsi etnografis dan argumentasi reflektif yang merujuk pada pendekatan relasional serta rasionalitas petani dalam perniagaan maupun usaha tani tembakau.

Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa persistensi atau kegigihan petani di CepitPagergunung mempertahankan tanaman tembakau dengan tata niaga yang monopsoni memiliki rasionalitas terhadap sumberdaya modal usaha tani. Petani merasionalisasi keberadaan para grader dan jaringan bakulnya, rentenir bahkan pihak perbankan untuk memperoleh modal usaha tani meski dalam bentuk utang atau pinjaman. Perolehan utang atau pinjaman dimanfaatkan petani bukan sekadar untuk input produksi usaha tani namun juga sebagai instrumen pembiayaan kehidupan rumah tangga petani selama musim bertani tembakau. Persistensi petani menunjukkan kemampuan bernegosiasi dan mengelola relasi dalam perniagaan tembakau secara mutualis.

Persistensi petani dalam mempertahankan usaha tani tembakau juga berkaitan dengan dalil tradisi yang terwujud dalam ragam kegiatan hajatan maupun selamatan. Petani kerap berupaya turut andil dalam kegiatan hajatan dan merutinkan praktik selamatan sebagai bentuk transmisi persistensi usaha tani tembakau lintas generasi. Perilaku demikian merupakan wujud rasionalitas petani, bahwa kegiatan hajatan maupun praktik selamatan menjadi media transmisi persistensi yang dimungkinkan oleh insentif petani dari hasil maupun pinjaman modal usaha tani tembakau. Insentif yang diberikan petani memfasilitasi integrasi sosial dan kultural serta menjadi pemancar bagi transmisi persistensi atau kegigihan dalam mempertahankan usaha tani tembakau.

Economically, tobacco cultivation activities are no longer viable, but tobacco plants are still the main choice for the farmer’s community in Cepit-Pagergunung, Temanggung. The asymmetric condition between the decline in tobacco's economic value does not dampen farmer' persistence in maintaining their tobacco cultivation production. This research thus aims to understand the persistence of farmers in maintaining tobacco farming in a manipulative trading system accompanied by the economic continuity of debt circulation. To achieve this goal, data collection activities were carried out through library studies and ethnographic research with data collection methods including observation, interviews and documentation. The data collection was then analyzed conjunctively, including historical, symbolic and political dimensions. Next, the analytical results are presented with ethnographic descriptions and reflective arguments that refer to relational as well as farmers’ rationality approaches in tobacco trade and cultivation.

The results of the analysis show that the persistence or tenacity of farmers in Cepit-Pagergunung in maintaining tobacco crops with a monopsony trading system has rationality in accessing capital resources for tobacco plant cultivation. Farmers rationalize the existence of grader and their bakul (as middlemen) networks, moneylenders (rentenir) and even banks to obtain capital for cultivation productions, even in the form of debt or loans. Farmers optimize obtaining debt or loans not only as input for cultivation production but also as an instrument to finance the lives of farmer’s households during the tobacco cultivation season. Such rationalization is the subjective rationality (self-interest) of farmer in accessing cultivation capital resources that enable them to continue growing tobacco.

The persistence of farmers in maintaining their tobacco cultivation production is also related to traditional principles which are manifested in various hajatan and selamatan activities. Farmers often try to participate in hajatan activities and routinely practice selamatan to transmit the persistence of tobacco cultivation across generations. Such behavior is a form of normative rationality connected to subjective rationality, that hajatan activities and the practice of selamatan as a medium for the transmission of persistence are made possible by farmer’s incentives from the results or capital loans for tobacco cultivation. The incentives given to farmer facilitate social and cultural integration and become a transmitter for the transmission of persistence or tenacity in maintaining tobacco cultivation.

Kata Kunci : persistensi usaha tani, perniagaan tembakau, rasionalitas petani.