Factors correlating to the success rate of agricultural extension in improving sustainability (a case study at BPP Tanjung Beringin, Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict, Serdang Bedagai Regency)

Agricultural extension has a vital role in improving the sustainability of farming businesses, developing the people’s economy, increasing agricultural production, and changing the behaviour of farmers, especially toward their environment. The average productivity and the increase in annual average production of lowland rice in Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict were quite good and prospective. This study purposed to determine the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists in the Agricultural Extension Centre of Tanjung Beringin, to know the success rate of the main tasks implementation, and to analyse the correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks. The research sample was determined by census methods, all extensionists were interviewed. The analysis method used was the Spearman Rank Correlation Test. The results showed that: The main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists went finely, following the main tasks determined; The success rate of the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists was 87%, or in high-performance criteria; There was a significant correlation between the duration of education, the duration of being an extensionist, and the duration of extensionists’ working time with the success rate of their tasks, meanwhile the age and number of family dependents had an insignificant correlation.


Introduction
Agricultural extension is a non-formal education for farmers [1].Agricultural extension includes the process of learning the knowledge and skills that come from expert agricultural extensionists to farmers [2].The participation of agricultural development participants who can utilize all resources as effectively and efficiently as possible is needed to overcome obstacles and challenges in the context of accelerating the development of the agricultural sector [3].The advancement in the development of the agricultural sector also requires the involvement of strong and solid human resources in the fields of management, regulation, service, and counselling that meet the required qualifications and special expertise [4].The growth of the agricultural sector is very crucial to deal with food and energy crises that may occur [5], and the participation of agricultural extensionists plays an urgent role in integrating government policies (central and regional) [6].The purposes of agricultural extension are to grow quality human resources as agents of agricultural development, create better and more sustainable agricultural businesses, make the lives of farmers more prosperous, and maintain the environment around agricultural land [7].
The socio-economic characteristics of agricultural extensionists are related to their success rate in increasing the sustainability of agricultural businesses [8].Socio-economic characteristics refer to traits relating to a person's personality and lifestyle, as well as the values developed to make behaviour more consistent and easier to observe [9].Socio-economic characteristics can also be described through the inherent characteristics of a person, including age, gender, race/ethnicity, knowledge, religion/belief, and others [10].Extensionists' performance is influenced by characteristics such as age, educational level, experience, number of dependents, and income [11].Through extension activities, agricultural extensionists become partners for farmers who apply Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) [12].Extensionists facilitate and guide farmers in mastering appropriate knowledge and technology to be applied in their agricultural practices [13].Agricultural extension plays an important role in increasing agricultural production and fostering better farmer behaviour towards the environment [14].In order to increase the sustainability of agricultural businesses, it is necessary to understand the factors correlated to the success rate of agricultural extensionists in increasing the sustainability of agricultural businesses [15].
The average productivity of lowland rice in the Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict was 6.8 tonnes/ha to 7.2 tonnes/ha, with an increase in average production of about 5% annually.There were 11 extensionists in Tanjung Beringin.The Agricultural Extension Centre (BPP) of Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict oversaw 2 subdistricts, namely Tanjung Beringin and Bandar Khalifah Subdistricts.The number of farmers' groups in the working area of the Bandar Khalifah Subdistrict was 75 groups, and the number of farmers' groups in the working area of the Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict was 99 groups.So that the total number of farmers' groups fostered by BPP Tanjung Beringin was 174 groups [16].
The key role of agricultural extensionists in maintaining the sustainability of agricultural businesses and building the community's economy is well known, especially in Serdang Bedagai Regency.For this reason, it is necessary to conduct a study to determine the factors correlating to the success rate of agricultural extension in improving sustainability at BPP Tanjung Beringin, Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict, Serdang Bedagai Regency.This study aimed to determine the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin, to know the success rate of the main tasks implementation, and to analyse the correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks.

Determining research areas
The research was conducted at BPP Tanjung Beringin, Tanjung Beringin Subdistrict, Serdang Bedagai Regency.The determination of the research area was carried out purposively by considering the research objectives [17].Agricultural extension activities at BPP Tanjung Beringin which were active, useful, and attractive to farmers and the community, were a motivating factor for researchers to conduct a study at the extension centre.

Data collection
Primary and secondary data were collected for tabulation and analysis [18].Primary data were obtained from information provided by all agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin as respondents using a prepared questionnaire.Secondary data were obtained from related institutions or agencies as supporting and complementary data in this research.

Data analysis
To determine the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists, the data were analysed descriptively [19] by explaining the implementation of the agricultural extensionists' main tasks at BPP Tanjung Beringin.To know the success rate of the main tasks implemented by agricultural extensionists and to analyse the correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks, which were analyses that require hypothesis testing, the data collected, tabulated, and then analysed were ordinal qualitative data with a scoring system [20,21].The success rate of agricultural extensionists in carrying out their main tasks was assessed based on their level of participation in the implementation [22].The interviews were conducted in June 2021.Equation 1 was used to measure the range of data and the results were obtained in Equation 2 [23].
Range = (The largest data − The smallest data) / Number of criteria (1) The total score for the success rate of the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists was at a value of 6-18.With a range of 4, the value could be categorized as follows.06 -10 = Low success rate 11 -14 = Moderate success rate 15 -18 = High success rate.The correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks was analysed using the Spearman Rank Correlation Method using equation 3 [24].
Where: rs = Spearman's rank correlation coefficient di 2  = Difference between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists and the success rate in implementing their tasks of each observation n = Number of observations It will then be tested with the t-test, with the formula: with the following criteria test: Ho is accepted when -tα/2;n-2 ≤ t ≤ tα/2;n-2 This means that there is an insignificant correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists and their success rate in implementing their tasks.Ho is rejected when t > tα/2;n-2 or t < tα/2;n-2 This means that there is a significant correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists and their success rate in implementing their tasks.

The main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists 1. Visiting farmers' groups continuously (periodically)
Extensionists visited each farmers' group under their supervision for monitoring once in 2 weeks or two times a month, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.On Wednesday, extensionists gathered at the BPP Tanjung Beringin Office to perform training activities for farmers and provided weekly reports.Extensionists' visits to each farmers' group were carried out for ± 2 hours per visit.
2. Organizing agricultural extension with integrated materials, dynamizing the farmers' groups with group approaches Extensionists organized training with materials related to integrated agriculture that had been prepared at the beginning of the BPP Tanjung Beringin program, but sometimes extension materials could possibly change depending on farmers' problems that occur in the field.

Co-organizing extension programs at the Extension Centre and performing counselling activities by inviting community leaders and stakeholders
Extensionists developed extension programs together with community leaders, including the Head of the Village, the Head of the Environment, and the Head of the Farmers' Groups.Extensionists would ask community leaders about what the farmers needed in their farming business or the problems experienced by farmers.Afterwards, extensionists would discuss and consider these matters to be included in the extension programs.

4.
Collaborating with farmers' groups and community leaders to organize mass movements in the working areas (for example in controlling pests and plant diseases, mutual cooperation activities, and other activities) Extensionists together with farmers and other layers of society did mutual cooperation activities together.Mutual cooperation activities usually carried out were maintaining the farmlands or eradicating pests manually.

Assisting in organising groups administration
Extensionists were in charge of guiding and directing farmers' groups in their administration processes.Since if they were not guided and directed, usually the farmers' groups could not manage the management of their groups properly.6. Executing other duties charged by the Head of BPP Another task assigned by the Head of BPP Tanjung Beringin to the extensionists was unscheduled visits (anjangsana) to farmers' groups or attending community events in the village.Extensionists in Tanjung Beringin should carry out this task like any other main task, even though sometimes the weather conditions become an obstacle.

The success rate of the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists
The analysis results of the success rate of the main tasks implementation of the agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin are described in Table 2. Table 2 shows that the score of the success rate of the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin was 15.63 with a percentage of 87%.This shows that the level of success in carrying out their main tasks was high.The main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists with a high level of success could be achieved due to the seriousness of agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin in carrying out their duties.

The correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks
The socio-economic characteristics of extensionists examined in this study were the age, duration of education, duration of being an extensionist, duration of extensionists' working time, and number of family dependents.The analysis results of the correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks are described in Table 3.Based on Spearman's rank correlation analysis in Table 3, the rs value was 0.075 and the tcount value was 0.226.The extensionists' age had a positive correlation with the success rate in implementing their tasks, meaning that the higher the age, the higher the success rate in implementing their tasks.The tcount value (0.226) < rs-table (0.536), so H0 is accepted and H1 is rejected.This means that the correlation between the extensionists' age and the success rate in implementing their tasks was insignificant.Therefore, the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between the extensionists' age and the success rate in implementing their tasks is rejected.Regardless of the extensionist's age, if it is not accompanied by performance, carrying out the duties as an extensionist to the best of his ability, then the success rate will be low.
The rs value was 0.248 and the tcount value was 0.768.The extensionists' duration of education had a positive correlation with the success rate in implementing their tasks, meaning that the longer the duration of education, the higher the success rate in implementing their tasks.The tcount value (0.768) > rs-table (0.536), so H1 is accepted and H0 is rejected.This means that the correlation between the extensionists' duration of education and the success rate in implementing their tasks was significant.Therefore, the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between the extensionists' duration of education and the success rate in implementing their tasks is accepted.The higher the extensionists' education level, the higher the insight and knowledge they have, so they can understand farmers' problems, teach, and train them better.
The rs value was 0.510 and the tcount value was 1.760.The extensionists' duration of being an extensionist had a positive correlation with the success rate in implementing their tasks, meaning that the longer the duration of being an extensionist, the higher the success rate in implementing their tasks.The tcount value (1.760) > rs-table (0.536), so H1 is accepted and H0 is rejected.This means that the correlation between the extensionists' duration of being an extensionist and the success rate in implementing their tasks was significant.Therefore, the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between the extensionists' duration of being an extensionist and the success rate in implementing their tasks is accepted.The longer the duration of being an extensionist, the better the extensionist's ability to implement their tasks properly based on his skills and experiences.Longer work experience means that extensionists are wiser and more experienced in understanding and solving issues faced by farmers.
The rs value was 0.350 and the tcount value was 1.110.The duration of extensionists' working time had a positive correlation with the success rate in implementing their tasks, meaning that the longer the duration of extensionists' working time, the higher the success rate in implementing their tasks.The tcount value (1.110) > rs-table (0.536), so H1 is accepted and H0 is rejected.This means that the correlation between the duration of extensionists' working time and the success rate in implementing their tasks was significant.Therefore, the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between the duration of extensionists' working time and the success rate in implementing their tasks is accepted.It takes a high time commitment to carry out extension activities so that the extension program can run well and even better.
The rs value was 0.170 and the tcount value was 0.510.The extensionists' number of family dependents had a positive correlation with the success rate in implementing their tasks, meaning that the higher the number of family dependents, the higher the success rate in implementing their tasks.The tcount value (0.510) < rs-table (0.536), so H0 is accepted and H1 is rejected.This means that the correlation between the extensionists' number of family dependents and the success rate in implementing their tasks was insignificant.Therefore, the hypothesis that there is a significant correlation between the extensionists' number of family dependents and the success rate in implementing their tasks is rejected.The number of dependents is indeed an unrelated issue to their duties as extensionists and does not affect the motivation of the extensionists in implementing their duties too much since they were not motivated by profit or allowance in implementing the duties.

Conclusions
To put the results in a nutshell, the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin went finely, following the main tasks determined.The success rate of the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists there was 87%, or in high-performance criteria.We found that there was a significant correlation between the duration of education, the duration of being an extensionist, and the duration of extensionists' working time with the success rate of their tasks, while the age and number of family dependents had an insignificant correlation.Agricultural extension there will certainly be able to carry out its role properly in improving the sustainability of farming businesses, developing the people's economy, increasing agricultural production, and changing the behaviour of farmers, especially to their environment.

Table 1 .
Descriptions of the main tasks of agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin.

Table 2 .
The success rate of the main tasks implementation of agricultural extensionists at BPP Tanjung Beringin.

Table 3 .
The correlation between the socio-economic characteristics of extensionists on the success rate in implementing their tasks at BPP Tanjung Beringin.