MARKET BEHAVIOR OF POTATO COMMODITY: A CASE STUDY IN HIGHLANDS OF SOUTH SULAWESI PROVINCE, INDONESIA

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L) is one of the significant food commodities with high economic value. The high economic value has an impact on the income of farmers and also on those who carry out marketing activities.Through this position, the government pays special attention to increasing its production. Notwithstanding, there are many problems that arise related to trading system, especially in market behavior.This study was conducted to analyze the trade system, distribution channel and farmer's share of potato commodity in South Sulawesi Indonesia. data were collected from 41 potato farmers through random sampling who living in Gantarang subdistric, Tinggimoncong Distric, Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi province. This location was determined because the village is the largest potato production area in Sulawesi (70 percent).The trader respondents were selected purposively, particularly three intermediary traders, three wholesalers, and 20 retailers from traditional markets. The analysis methods used are qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show that the potato trade in Gantarang Sub-district which control of potato pricing decisions is dominated by intermediary traders, in this case intermediary traders who tend to want high profits and farmers do not have a strong bargaining position. This is characteristic an oligopsony market structure. The distribution channel includes three intermediaries, they are collecting traders, wholesalers, and retailers. The value of farmer's share of potato commodities in both distribution channel I and distribution channel II is in the efficient category.