Application of Psychological Theory in Agricultural Counseling

By : HAFIZEN, TRI AFRI MAYLA SARI, SITI LAILATUL KHASANAH, DEBY NAILA & RIFATUNISA BASUNI

The Jambi Province Plantation Office was established in 1966. In 1966 the Plantation Office was named the People's Plantation Office only managing the People's Rubber Commodity and the Rubber Office was established. In 1976 and 1979 other Commodities began to be developed through Projects for the Rejuvenation, Rehabilitation, and Expansion of Export Plants. Pear Plantation (Perkebunan Inti Rakyat) or Ness II (Nucleus State Small Holder) activities were funded by the International Bank for Rural Development (IBRD) until 1985. The Jambi Province Plantation Service has several fields, namely: Secretary Sector, Plantation Seeding, and Production Sector, Plantation Development and Counseling Sector, Plantation Facilities Infrastructure and Protection Sector, and Plantation Product Processing, Standardization, and Marketing Sector. The Technical Implementation Unit for the Office of Plantation Seed Supervision and Certification, the Technical Implementation Unit for the Office of Plantation Plant Seed Development and Production, and the Technical Implementation Unit for the Office of Plantation Plant Protection.

 

Practical Field Experience students of the Dakwah Faculty of UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi at the Jambi Province Plantation Service, students are placed in several locations that continue to change every week, in the end, the last location becomes the location for determination until the Field Experience Practice activities are completed. This is done based on the rolling rules that have been set by the central office of the Jambi Provincial Plantation Service. Some of the placement locations are as follows: First-week location in Telanai which is the center of the Plantation Service office. Next, the location for the second week, at Sungai Tiga, part of the Technical Implementation Unit of the Plantation Plant Seed Development and Production Center, and the last location, which is the location for determination for the third week until completion, is the Plantation Plant Protection Agency, Pijoan.

Involving Psychological Theory in Agricultural Counseling

Field Experience Practical Activities at the Jambi Province Plantation Service involved four students applying the knowledge they had acquired while in college. The Field Experience Practice program for students takes the form of a Sharing Session with a Psychology theme entitled "Application of Psychological Theory in Agricultural Extension to Farmers" and "Application of Psychological Theory in Improving the Quality of Extension Self-Concept". With this Sharing Session, Field Experience Practice students hope that employees, extension workers, and the whole community can apply the theories that have been described in social life, in order to achieve a prosperous life.

The Sharing Session activity is a form of the knowledge-sharing session with the audience. Here students of the Field Experience Practice of Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi State Islamic University held a Sharing Session with the title "Application of Psychological Theory in Plantation Counseling to Farmers" with staff at BPTP and the University of Jambi students who were also participants in the Field Work Practice. The purpose of this Sharing Session activity is to increase the understanding of students who have studied counseling and psychology courses in the Islamic Counseling and Guidance Study Program. In this Sharing Session activity, Field Experience Practice students discussed Four Psychological theories which were then linked to plantation counseling to farmers, namely as follows:

Humanistic Theory is a theory pioneered by Abraham Maslow. This material discusses how to humanize humans. Instill moral values, nobility, common sense, respect, love, the ability to place oneself, empathy, and help each other. This theory says that the learning process is far more important than the results. Because we have gone through a long process, experience and we have learned. Humanistic theory is a simple theory, which is directly related to humans themselves, according to which human life is based on five pyramids of needs, namely: psychological or basic needs, the need for security, the need to be loved and cared for, the need to be appreciated, and self-actualization.

The theory of Transactional Analysis is Eric Berne's theory, which discusses communication. According to him, humans have three egos, namely: the ego-state child, the ego-state parent, and the ego-state adult. As well as having four life positions, namely: I'm Ok You're Ok, I'm not Ok You're Ok, I'm Ok You're not Ok and I'm not Ok You're not Ok. 

Gestalt Theory by Pritz Pers and Laura Pers. According to Gestalt theory, man is influenced by what happens to him here and now Here and Now. Gestalt theory discusses matters related to the overall experience (childhood-present), which then influences the individual. Gestalt theory emphasizes process, not results. Whatever is new or has been experienced by the individual, is what is studied. Not the reason this happened. In Gestalt theory, he is more focused on emphasizing experiences that influence individual perspectives in thinking. One's experience influences one's perspective, according to him the process is more important than the result.

The Behavioristic Theory of Ivan Pavlov, Skinner, and Thorndike. The behavioristic theory discusses a person's behavior and alludes to the formation of learning outcomes and the influence of the environment on reactions (responses) so as to produce an action that reflects behavior. The behavioristic theory seeks to observe how the process of forming a habit. Experimental habits are seen through a dog (Learning conditioning) where the stimulus or stimulation can bring up a response (reaction). A dog is put in a laboratory that has been engineered in such a way, a hose is attached right near his throat to drain his saliva. This dog is put into the room facing the glass. Inside are yellow and green lights. When the light is yellow, it's a sign the Dog must prepare to eat. When the light is green, it's a sign that the food is out and it's time for the dog to eat. Once upon a time, when the Dog got used to it. When the light is green, food is not removed. And the dog also salivates, a sign that he is enthusiastic and is looking forward to the food. In conclusion, according to Pavlov learning comes from habituation. Then the next experiment was conducted by Skinner, on a mouse. Mice are put in a box, called the Skinner Box, where buttons have been prepared that will react when pressed. The mice were deliberately starved first in the box. Then, the mouse parted ways and accidentally pressed the button that issued the stun, then he kept trying and repeating, pressing a different button, and managed to press the correct button whose reaction was to spit food out. In conclusion, learning comes from reinforcement and punishment. When the mouse presses the wrong button it will be punished (electrocuted). When he presses the correct button, he will get a reward in the form of food. Skinner criticized Pavlov's theory. Learning does not come from habituation, but from reinforcement. Next, Thorndike conducted an experiment with a cat. The cat is put into a cage that has a canopy and is deliberately starved. Therefore the cat will try to reach and try to reach the canopy until it finally manages to get out of the cage. In conclusion, according to Thorndike learning comes from trial and error.

Sharing Sessions

The implementation of Field Experience Practice activities at the Jambi Province Plantation Service was packaged in the form of a Sharing Session with the theme of Psychology and the title "Application of Psychological Theory in Agricultural Extension to Farmers" held on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. Sharing Sessions can be interpreted as discussion activities and sharing of experiences between resource persons with the audience. The Sharing Session was chosen because it can bridge knowledge without formal boundaries that can hinder the process of sharing knowledge. In addition, Sharing Session activities can be packaged more flexibly so as to form a closer relationship between the material presenter and the audience.

At the end of the activity, an evaluation was carried out through open interviews with the activity participants, the results of the interviews indicated a positive response in which the participants really supported and appreciated the Sharing Session activities with the theme of Psychology and the title "Application of Psychological Theory in Agricultural Extension to Farmers". This activity can strengthen the audience's understanding of the importance of understanding psychological theory to be applied when going out into the field to conduct outreach or outreach to the community, in this case, farmers. Based on the evaluation results through interviews and open sharing with all audiences, it was found that not a few employees and fellow student colleagues did not understand well how appropriate theories and techniques were to be applied in outreach or outreach activities. Thus, causing the implementation of socialization or counseling ineffective.