Valuation of costs and change in returns of seedling technology and shallot planting distance: A case study in Grobogan Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

The increasing rate of shallot production of Central Java Province for the last ten years was lower than the national rate, indicated the need for new technology development. The study aims to determine the economic feasibility of the newly seedling planting technique in three planting distances (10 x 10 cm, 10 x 15 cm, and 15 x 15 cm). In that case, farmers use seed bulbs. The research was carried out in Padang Village, Tanggungharjo Subdistrict, Grobogan Regency, from August to October 2018. Financial analysis, consisting of BCR, MBCR, break-even point of both production and price, and competitive advantage of the techniques were analyzed. The results showed that the newly seedling technologies and planting distance were able to increase the productivity of shallots ranging from 12,685 to 21,088 kg. At the price of shallot bulbs at IDR 10,000 per kg, 10x10 cm planting distance resulted in the highest profit (IDR 180,790,100/ha). It was much higher compared to the farmers' technology (IDR 9,299,000/ha). Based on break-even point analysis, seedling planting technology has a tolerance limit of production and prices decreasing between 67.24% to 71.44% compared to existing technology (16.03%). Seedling planting technology has a competitive advantage with a net profit ratio of 13.76 to 19.44 and a minimum selling price of IDR 3,239 to IDR 3,622 to obtain the same profit as existing technology. Thus, the technology of planting shallot seedlings at a spacing of 10 x 10 cm is recommended to increase the production and profits of shallot farming.