Analisis Tingkat Intervensi Tengkulak terhadap Usahatani Petani Kelapa Sawit di Desa Sinabongan Kecamatan Dolok Kabupaten Padang Lawas Utara

This study purposes to determine middlemen (tengkulak) intervention levels in the oil palm farming and to analyze farmers' income levels in Sinabongan Village, Dolok Subdistrict, Padang Lawas Utara Regency.This research employed a quantitative method with descriptive and associative approaches.Sampling was conducted using purposive sampling, yielding 27 respondents from a population of 43 farmers.Data were collected through observation, interviews, questionnaires, and documentation, while data analysis utilized the Likert scale scoring method to measure the level of middlemen intervention, alongside farm business analysis encompassing production costs, revenue, income, and the Revenue Cost Ratio (R/C Ratio).The results indicate that the level of middlemen intervention on oil palm farmers in Sinabongan Village falls into the high category (score of 1,669 or 61.81%), particularly in terms of price determination and the selling system.Oil palm farming income was also found to be profitable, with total revenue amounting to IDR 6,785,280,000 per year and total production costs of IDR 2,030,022,482 per year, resulting in a net income of IDR 4,755,257,518 per year and an R/C Ratio of 3.34.This value indicates that oil palm farming in the study area is feasible and profitable to operate.Although the presence of middlemen facilitates the marketing of harvest yields and access to capital, this relationship also engenders a dependency that may weaken farmers' bargaining position in determining the selling price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB).