The potential of rabbit urine in converting household waste into fertilizer as the resilience of farmer family economics in sub-urban

The objective of this research was to assess the economic potential of incorporating rabbit urine into the process of converting household waste into liquid organic fertilizer (LOF). This analysis was conducted within farmer groups situated in Jetis Hamlet, Jati Village, Jaten District, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java. The rationale for selecting farmer groups as the focal point of this analysis lay in the current challenges faced by farmers. These particular groups were directly affected by the ongoing global fertilizer crisis, characterized by a scarcity of subsidized products and escalating prices, thereby posing a threat to national food security. This research served as a pilot project with the potential for replication on a multispatial and national scale, fundamentally supporting national food security. The economic carrying capacity of the LOF produced was determined by comparing the results of laboratory tests on LOF nutrient content, both with and without using rabbit urine in the conversion of household waste. Based on the application of homemade LOF with rabbit urine supplements over 3000m2 of rice farming, the economic calculations showed that the total variable cost (VC) savings was 32.17%. Each planting season the potential for additional income for farmer households, with homemade LOF priced at IDR 30,000 per liter, totaling IDR 2,610,000. It was important to observe that market prices for LOF were around IDR 90,000 per liter. The homemade LOF had a substantial R/C ratio of 20,157. This research aimed to establish economic behavior patterns among suburban rice farmers that corroborated with natural principles. Simultaneously, it attempted to strengthen family economic resilience by creating independent economic resources serving as buffers for farming families. These resources were integral to supporting sustainable agricultural programs and reinforcing national food security.


Introduction
Peri-urban rural areas are facing urgent environmental health challenges that demand attention from various stakeholders.The Jetis hamlet, situated within the administrative boundaries of Jati Village, Jaten District, Karanganyar Regency, is no exception.Spanning the heart of the hamlet is a river graced with two reasonably large bridges.These bridges have become morning dumping grounds for residents, contributing to river environmental pollution.Despite this persistent issue, no entity has consistently addressed this environmental degradation in the local community.
Most of the local community, primarily rice farmers, has recently encountered significant livelihood challenges.These challenges arise due to the enactment of Minister of Agriculture Number 10 of 2022, which limits fertilizer subsidies from 5 types (ZA, Urea, NPK, SP-36, and Petroganic organic fertilizer) to just 2 types (Urea and NPK).Furthermore, subsidized fertilizers, previously allocated for 70 agricultural commodities in 2023, are now available for only 9 primary commodities, including rice, corn, soybeans, chillies, shallots, garlic, sugar cane, coffee, and cocoa, with minimal subsidies of 65 kg for each farmer per year.The selling price of rice has become damaged as impacted by government rice imports, with market prices reaching 20% to 25% below the production costs.When farmers in the research area continue to face unresolved challenges, these groups of people may be compelled to sell their agricultural land, leading to land conversion.This trend is spreading among farming communities, and the widespread conversion of agricultural land poses a severe threat to regional food security foundations and even extends to the national [1,2].
Rabbit urine is renowned for its superior nutrient content compared to the urine from other livestock [3].Simultaneously, a substantial 73.98% of household waste in this field analysis consists of organic matter [4].Combining both elements offers the potential for an organic material that greatly benefits plant life cycles, known as organic fertilizer [5][6][7][8][9][10][11].The presence of the RG-EPP (Research Group-Economy and Rural Development) team aims to address both these issues by imparting the skills needed to transform household waste into liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) enhanced with rabbit urine supplements.The proposed solution serves multiple purposes; firstly, it tackles the pressing issue of river environmental pollution by reducing approximately 73.98% of local waste.Secondly, producing high-quality organic fertilizers provides a solution for local farming communities grappling with the scarcity of subsidized fertilizers and high prices.Thirdly, farmers independently producing LOF can reduce variable costs, which constitute a significant proportion of rice farming expenses [12][13][14][15], thereby enhancing the competitiveness of locally grown rice against imported varieties.Lastly, farmers have additional sources of income from the liquid organic fertilizer they produce.The research program prioritizes the production of LOF due to its efficiency in terms of space and its broader applicability of organic material on land compared to solid organic fertilizer (SOF) [16].Equipping the local farming community with the skills to process household waste into LOF supplemented with rabbit urine aims to prevent river environmental pollution and the looming threat of agricultural land conversion.This initiative can support the food security program, a fundamental objective spanning all development sectors, and promote the community's welfare [12].

Materials and methods
This research adopted a non-assessment or action research approach incorporating a group of farmers residing in RT 2, Jetis Hamlet, Jati Village, Jaten District, Karanganyar Regency.The selection of the location was deliberate and purposeful.Furthermore, the research process was initiated with an initial meeting held on February 25, 2023, to socialise the selected subject and identify RT 2 residents whose main livelihood revolved around rice farming.The results of this identification process led to the inclusion of 15 rice farmers, all of whom expressed their willingness to participate in this program.Documentation of this introductory meeting is presented in Figure 1 below.After the socialization event on May 25, 2023, the research team created a video tutorial explaining the process of producing LOF and its economic analysis.This video tutorial was developed for broadcast and distribution to the participating farmers during the second meeting.This video tutorial aimed to provide easily replicable learning methods, ensuring that the knowledge was readily remembered and 3 put into practice.The video tutorial documentation can be accessed through the following link and is presented in Figure 2.During the second meeting on July 4, 2023, farmers were presented with a questionnaire addressing various aspects of their agricultural practices.The questionnaire included the area of land cultivated for rice crops, the variety of rice grown, the quantity and cost of inputs used, the range of activities carried out throughout a rice planting season incurring costs to the rice farming business, the volume of harvest, and the prevailing selling price of rice.Documentation of this meeting is presented in Figure 3 below.The second meeting served as a platform for counselling environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural practices.A video tutorial covering the production of LOF and providing technical guidance, along with economic analysis, was presented.

4
During the third meeting held on July 9, 2023, practical training in the creation of LOF was carried out collaboratively with all the participants.The meeting also included comprehensive discussions and question-and-answer sessions addressing agricultural practices and the challenges faced by the participating farmers.Documentation of this meeting is available in Figure 4.

(a)
(b) (c) Figure 4. Figures 4a and 4b.Practice making LOF with supplements of rabbit urine; Figure 4c.Discussion and questions and answers related to practice and agriculture problems.
The next step was the laboratory testing of the LOF produced by the farmers during the practical sessions, which included the addition of rabbit urine supplements.After 15 days of processing, this testing assessed the chemical element content pertinent to nutrients.The laboratory results were compared with those obtained from the LOF laboratory tests performed without rabbit urine supplements, as demonstrated in the video tutorial.
The economics analysis of LOF production carried out by the farmers was measured in terms of efficiency levels (ratio R/C), additional farmer income, total cost analysis, and variable cost (VC) savings.
The economic analysis included evaluating production costs (C) and revenues (R), which were fundamental to measuring income.Furthermore, the economic feasibility aspect was determined by examining the R/C ratio or production efficiency.The R/C ratio, an essential formula for assessing farm feasibility, was computed as follows (Suratiyah, 2008), with C representing the total cost (TC) and R signifying total revenue (TR) derived from LOF production, typically measured in litres.Furthermore, the total cost, revenue, and R/C ratio were assessed based on the average value of farmers, as shown in Equation 3: ..…………………(equation 3) SP = average value (total cost, total revenue, R/C ratio) n = number of farmers A, B,….n = the value of each farmer, including cost, revenue, and R/C ratio

Results and discussion
Laboratory testing was conducted to analyze the nutrient content of LOF produced by farmers, focusing on 2 distinct production processes.The first process comprised converting household waste into LOF without adding rabbit urine supplements.In contrast, the second process incorporated recycling household waste into LOF by adding rabbit urine supplements.This dual-testing approach aimed to ensure the advantages of rabbit urine as a supplement in producing LOF.The results from laboratory tests are presented in Table 1.
The results presented in Table 1 demonstrated that, across all tested nutrient parameters, LOF with rabbit urine supplements has more nutrient content compared to LOF produced without rabbit urine supplementation.It shows that rabbit urine is essential for farmers in meeting fertilizer needs and substituting synthetic fertilizers due to the scarcity of subsidized fertilizers and the high price.By sustaining LOF production activities among farmers, the ensuing positive impact contributed to establishing sustainable agriculture practices and meeting the goals of the food security program.The economic analysis began with calculating manufacturing costs to determine the economic potential of LOF production.The cost per LOF unit was determined based on the construction of tools crafted from 19-litre used paint cans.The analysis of total costs, as calculated in Table 2 above, showed that the cost per trip for LOF production was very affordable, amounting to just IDR 22,325.
The calculation of financial feasibility by the efficiency level using the R/C ratio was presented in Table 3 as follows.The financial feasibility analysis in Table 3 showed a significant R/C ratio of 20,157.This value signified that every IDR 1 invested in liquid organic fertiliser production could generate a return of IDR 20,157.The results were substantial and exceeded the criteria for a favourable R/C ratio, which should ideally be greater than 1 (R/C ratio> 1).Furthermore, the potential additional income farmers could obtain from LOF production was calculated as follows in Table 4.
Table 4. Calculation of potential additional farmer household income Suppose the area of arable land per farmer household is 5000 m 2 LOF requirement per 1000 m 2 : 200 ml Per 5000 m 2 (200 ml X 5 X 3 applications = 3 liters) requirement per growing season The need for LOF per month is 3 liters: 3 times the application = 1liter Production potential of 1 composer tub = 15 liters per 15 days Production for 1 month (30 days) = 2 tubs X 15 liters = 30 liters After being used, the remaining production is 30 liters -1 liter = 29 liters per month.When the price of LOF per liter is Rp.30.000, -then additional income is 29 X IDR.30,000, -= IDR.870,000 per month or = IDR.870,000 X 3 = Rp.2,610,000 per planting season According to the calculation presented in Table 4, farmers who produced their LOF could earn an additional income of IDR 870,000 per month or IDR 2,610,000 per planting season.This substantial increase in income proved attractive to farmers, and their engagement in LOF production activities could help maintain the spirit to keep farming rice and prevent the conversion of agricultural land.
Table 5 presented the calculation of variable cost savings for farmers who chose to produce their LOF as a substitute for synthetic fertilizers, a practice commonly used by the participants.Table 5 shows the total cost incurred by farmers when using synthetic fertilizers on a 3000 m2 plot, totalling IDR 965,000 out of a total cost of IDR 3,000,000 for rice farming.By substituting synthetic fertilizers with homemade LOF, farmers could achieve substantial savings of IDR 965,000, equivalent 7 to 32.17% of their total variable costs, which represented the highest component of the total costs of rice farming.These fertilizer cost savings are presented in the following pie chart.As described above, the economic analysis calculations applied to LOF received full endorsement from the farmers participating in this research program.Furthermore, the laboratory test results for LOF with rabbit urine supplements indicated a higher total nutritional element than the production without rabbit urine supplements.This result underscored the superior suitability of LOF from organic household waste materials enriched with rabbit urine supplements as a viable alternative to synthetic fertilizers, particularly in light of the global fertilizer shortage.Subsequently, the research continued to supervise and assist in the practical application of LOF with rabbit urine supplements.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the results showed that the independent production of liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) by farmers, applied in rice farming to replace synthetic fertilizers, yielded the following benefits: 1. Farmers could achieve a substantial 32.17% reduction in variable costs within rice farming, enhancing overall cost-efficiency.2. Farmers could secure an additional income of IDR 870,000 per month or IDR 2,610,000 per planting season by simply using one composer tub. 3. The application of LOF effectively improved soil structure [17][18][19][20], advancing food security [12,18] and sustainable agricultural programs [21,22].4. LOF produced from organic household waste materials, enriched with rabbit urine supplements, empowered farmers to establish economic resilience during global fertilizer shortages while preventing the conversion of agricultural land.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Initial meeting (socialization and identification of farmers participating in the research program).

Figure 2 .
Figure2.Make a video tutorial on how to make a LOF along with its economic analysis.Link: https://youtu.be/jGgDWOcykPMFollowing 15 days of processing, on June 10, 2023, the LOF samples featured in the tutorial video were subjected to laboratory testing to analyze their chemical composition and nutrient content.It was essential to observe that the LOF tested in the video was created exclusively from organic materials derived from household waste without adding rabbit urine supplements.The results from these laboratory tests would be compared with the findings from LOF laboratory tests conducted by farmers participating in this research program, who received additional rabbit urine supplements.During the second meeting on July 4, 2023, farmers were presented with a questionnaire addressing various aspects of their agricultural practices.The questionnaire included the area of land cultivated for rice crops, the variety of rice grown, the quantity and cost of inputs used, the range of activities carried out throughout a rice planting season incurring costs to the rice farming business, the volume of harvest, and the prevailing selling price of rice.Documentation of this meeting is presented in Figure3below.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The second meeting (farmer filling out the questionnaire followed by counseling).

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Variable cost savings when producing own LOF.

Table 1 .
The laboratory LOF chemical analysis results without rabbit urine and with rabbit urine

Table 2 .
Calculation of the total cost of making LOF

Table 3 .
Calculation of the financial feasibility of the ratio R/C of LOF production

Table 5 .
Variable cost saving of using self-producing lof per 3000 m 2