The Decision of Broiler Chicken Farmers to Sustain Business During Pandemic Era in Indonesia

COVID-19 is a disruption that impacts broiler farmers in rural areas of Banyumas Regency, Indonesia. The COVID 19 outbreak has presented uncertainty in carrying out business activities. Making business decisions in dealing with COVID-19 needed to reduce business uncertainty. Broiler farmers are faced with a business decision whether to sustain or stop temporarily the broiler business. This study aims to describe broiler chicken farmers' business decisions during the COVID-19 outbreak and the factors that influence their business decision. 49 respondents of partnership broiler farmers in Banyumas Regency were selected randomly as much as 20 percent of partnership broiler farmers' total population. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and discriminant analysis. The results showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, most broiler farmers (75.5 percent) remained committed to continuing their business during the pandemic period, while the rest made decisions to stop temporarily. The discriminant analysis results showed the discriminant function was very significant (P<0.01). There are two different groups of business decisions based on some independent variables. Age of farmers, farming experience, farm size, and perceived COVID-19 impact are essential factors influencing broiler farmers' decisions to sustain or stop their business (P<0.01) during COVID-19 outbreak.