Society Willingness on Maintaining Rice Irrigated Area in Sidoarjo Regency, East Java Province of Indonesia

Rice irrigated area is as plantation media of farmer income source as well as having the other multi function which the benefit can be widely enjoyed by the society, even in some results of research indicated that the function of rice irrigated area as the producer of environmental service was bigger than as the plantation media due to the economical valuation. The problem is during the time, the conversion of irrigated to the non irrigated area (such as rediedence, industry area, tourism, etc) is to be continous. There is needed the knowledge or understanding of socisety about the multi function of rice irrigated area for decreasing the conversion rate of irrigated to the non irrigated rice area. This research intended to identify the knowledge or understanding of society about the muloti function of rice irrigated area and then to analyze the society willingness to pay and to accept the environmental service if the farmer maintains the rice irrigated area as the existence of attention to the life environment. The methodology consisted of contingent valuation method by using multiple regression. Results showed as follow: 1) the knowledge or understanding of society to the multi function of rice irrigated area in research location was low; 2) variables of education, age, researcher respondent, instructor respondent, and bureaucratic respondent were significantly influenced to the knowledge on multi function of irrigated rice area; but farmer respondent and respondent sex were not significantly influenced; 3) variables of income level, age, education level, the distance from residence to the river, the value of flood loss were significantlt influenced to the society willingness on paying environmental service of irrigated rice area; 4) variables of cultivation irrigated rice area, age, education level, income level, the number of family life were significantly influenced to the fa [2]rmer willingness for accepting the payment of irrigated rice area environment, but farmer variable that presented the the farming was profitable was not significantly influenced; and 5) the dimension of society willingness on paying (WTP) the environmental service of irrigated rice area was in average of Rp. 3,433.-/ha, but the society willingness on accepting (WTA) was Rp. 4,727.272/ha. The lower of WTP and WTA were caused by the lower society understanding to the multi function of rice irrigated area.