FARMERS’ UNDERSTANDING TOWARD THE WAREHOUSE RECEIPT SYSTEM’S POLICY IN EAST JAVA INDONESIA

This study examined farmers' understanding toward the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) policy in East Java, Indonesia. It focused on 16 question items, namely 1) WRS existence, 2) WRS definition, 3) WRS rules, 4) WRS function, 5) WRS to prevent risks, 6) WRS as a marketing solution, 7) types of commodities stored in warehouse, 8) warehouse receipt as collateral, 9) security of the stored goods, 10) insurance for the stored goods, 11) WRS to solve issue related to capital, 12) WRS facilities, 13) WRS services, 14) time allotment to publish warehouse receipt, 15) storage procedures, 16) institution/ individual associated to WRS. The study was conducted in six districts, Sampang, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Madiun, Nganjuk, Tuban. The data analysis was Likert scale. Item 14 had the highest result with total score of 116 (64.4%) It meant the respondents (farmers) understood they had to wait 1 or 2 days between storage process and publishing the receipt. Item 16 had the lowest result with total score of 84 (46.7%) meaning the respondents quite understood that warehouse manager, financial institution (bank) and quality control staffs were people involved in the management of WRS. Having obtained the data from farmers that did not use WRS it was found that item 7 had the highest score (177 or 59%). It implied that the respondents quite understood that grain, corn and rice were the types of commodities that they could store in the warehouse. However, most of the respondents were not aware that they could store other commodities such as coffee, chocolate, and salt in the warehouse