Analysis of Media Literacy Levels of Palm Oil Farmers in Riau Province, Indonesia

Oil palm plantations are a potential commodity of Riau Province and the highest contributor to palm oil production in Indonesia. The development of agricultural science and technology, which is disseminated through various media, is a source of information for farmers. However, the availability of information sources does not guarantee that farmers will benefit from the information. This is influenced by media literacy from these farmers. This research aimed at analyzing the media’s literacy of oil palm farmers. The research was conducted in three districts with potential oil palm at Riau Province. They are Pelalawan District, Rokan Hilir District and Rokan Hulu District. The respondents of oil palm farmers were 185 farmers, which were selected by stratified random sampling. This research applied Likert Summated Rating Scale (LSRS) method. The results of this research are: The literacy level of oil palm farmers is in the medium level (average score of 1.72), while for three aspects which are technical skill and critical understanding are in the medium level and communication skill is basic level. Role of government and related parties are needed to help improve the literacy level of oil palm farmers. This is necessary so that the farmers together with extension workers, will be ready to face the challenge of the development of science and technology in the oil palm industry, by utilizing the development of information and communication technologies such as smartphones.