STRATEGI PETANI DALAM MENGHADAPI KEKURANGAN AIR: STUDI KASUS DI DAERAH IRIGASI WANIR, KECAMATAN CIPARAY, KAB. BANDUNG

Abstrak

ABSTRAK
Ketersediaan air irigasi sangat penting dalam pertanian.Namun, sifat dan jumlah pasokan air yang
tak terduga, ketika musim kemarau air sulit untuk didapat dan dapat mengancam pertumbuhan,
terkadang di musim hujan jumlah air melebihi batas hingga menimbulkan banjir dan menghancurkan
tanaman padi. Untuk itu diperlukan berbagai strategi untuk menyiasati dan menjamin ketersediaan
air guna mempertahankan produktifitas pertanian. Penelitian ini bermaksud menggambarkan
bagaimana petani di Dusun Leles Desa Mekarsari Kecamatan Ciparay Kabupaten Bandung
bekerjasama dalam menjamin ketersediaan air irigasi.
Penelitian dilakukan dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan pemaparan deskriptif yang
bertujuan menggambarkan bagaimana petani-petani di Dusun Leles Desa Mekarsari Kecamatan
Ciparay Kabupaten Bandung membuat strategi-strategi dalam mengelola irigasi. Hasil yang didapat,
Petani mengembangkan organisasi irigasi untuk meneglola air irigasi melalu Mitra Cai. Petani
bekerjasama melakukan nganir cai, dan pompanisasi. Selain itu juga petani mengaktifkan
hubungan-hubungan kekerabatan untuk mendapatkan akses pada air irigasi.

Kata kunci: irigasi, strategi petani, mitra cai

ABSTRACT
The availability and access to water is very vital to agriculture. However, both of these are often
unpredictable in some parts of Indonesia, especially in locations which has ‘bowl’ geographical
characteristic such as Ciparay District, Bandung Regency, West Java. This is due to lack of
infrastructure and water management system. During the drought, the water is so scarce while
during rainy season, the water overflows. This condition poses threats to surrounding farmlands.
Therefore, a proper water management system is needed. This paper aims to identify how do
farmers in Mekarsari Village, Ciparay work together in assuring the availability and their access to
water. The study was a qualitative study which was designed to provide in-depth information in
order to describe the phenomenon. The results show that there is a self-organized organization,
which was formed by farmers to arrange the water usage in the region. The farmers are bound to
mitra cai organization, organizing themselves to do nganir cai (looking for water sources) and
distribute the water. Aside of that, the farmers also enhance collegial relationships in the process,
reducing the risks of social dispute.

Keywords: irrigation, farmers’ strategy, mitra cai