Learning the Adoption of Mushroom Farming Partnership: A Case Study of Farmers and an Enterprise from Cianjur Distric, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Mushroom farming is one of the profitable agribusiness especially for rural areas in developing countries. It can be adopted and applied as a sideline or main business. Through a partnership, farmers are indeed able to resolve their falter caused by production problems and market challenges. However, some questions emerge about the effectiveness of partnerships. Learning the adoption of the partnership specifically on mushroom farming can provide more understanding about its strengths and its weaknesses for further better use. This study aims to review the adoption process and the experience of an informal partnership case between a mushroom enterprise and farmers using qualitative and non-parametric quantitative approaches framed by Rogers’s innovation–decision process. The result shows that the partnership delivers ample benefits for the farmers and is recommended especially for rural society in certain conditions, though before and after the implementation, some issues were found, and suggestions are given for improvement.