Characteristic of agroforestry farmer as a source of cultural information: a case study in two villages in Java, Indonesia

The private forest farming system in each region is established by how farmers viewed natural resources in their environment and ultimately formed a unique farming culture system. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics and cultural systems of farming that are applied by private forest farmers. The research was conducted in two different areas, i.e., Linggajaya Village (West Java) and Triwidadi Village (Yogyakarta). Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques collected the data. These studies showed that the cultural systems of private forest farmers in both of villages were different due to their different views on natural conditions and themselves as farmers. Different perspectives on land tenure and ownership patterns caused different ways of cropping patterns and social relationships. Linggajaya village farmers with vast land ownership have a broader social relationship with communities outside the village. They tend to buy and sell land than farmers in Yogyakarta with small land ownership and tend to manage their land intensively. According to the research, it can be recommended that beginning research on private forest culture should become the first thing to do before the community empowerment in the private forest development program.