The role of culture in strengthening social capital in the GAPOKTAN ( Farmers Group Association ) Agro Prima at Padangsidimpuan , Indonesia

The objective of this research article was to discuss the benefit and the maintenance of social culture in the Gapoktan (Farmers Group Association), Agro Prima. The data were gathered by conducting in-depth interviews with 16 informants that consisted of the managers and the members of Agro Prima and the local government officials. The purpose was to find out the norms, the values, and the network of this group of farmers. The result showed that cultural values found in this group had brought about the strengthening of the element of social capital of its members. Their homogeneity of their religion and their ethnicity had caused them to be able to cope with any problems which arose in the Gapoktan, especially by using the principle of “holong mangalap holong” (being mutually affectionate). Besides that, the local people in this area firmly follow the cultural principle of “Tappal marsipagodangan, udut marsipaginjangan, marsipatua-tuaan aso dapot hadamean” (always instilling the sense of togetherness and the form of address for someone according to tradition followed from generation to generation) so that each member and the management of the group can maintain and develop harmonization in the organization. The use of this social capital can be seen from Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 3 their activity in empowering in order to increase their welfare and economic condition. The Gapoktan, Agro Prima, also attempts to maintain and develop the organization so that it will become tenacious through the use of this social capital.


Abstract
The objective of this research article was to discuss the benefit and the maintenance of social culture in the Gapoktan (Farmers Group Association), Agro Prima. The data were gathered by conducting in-depth interviews with 16 informants that consisted of the managers and the members of Agro Prima and the local government officials. The purpose was to find out the norms, the values, and the network of this group of farmers. The result showed that cultural values found in this group had brought about the strengthening of the element of social capital of its members. Their homogeneity of their religion and their ethnicity had caused them to be able to cope with any problems which arose in the Gapoktan, especially by using the principle of "holong mangalap holong" (being mutually affectionate). Besides that, the local people in this area firmly follow the cultural principle of "Tappal marsipagodangan, udut marsipaginjangan, marsipatua-tuaan aso dapot hadamean" (always instilling the sense of togetherness and the form of address for someone according to tradition followed from generation to generation) so that each member and the management of the group can maintain and develop harmonization in the organization. The use of this social capital can be seen from Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 3 their activity in empowering in order to increase their welfare and economic condition. The Gapoktan, Agro Prima, also attempts to maintain and develop the organization so that it will become tenacious through the use of this social capital. Keywords: Social Capital; Farmer Group; Community Culture; Agro Prima.

Introduction
Indonesia is one of the archipelagic countries with the majority of its people (31.8%) are farmers (Statistik, 2017) who have their contribution to provide food for all Indonesian people. However, up to the present time, they themselves get difficulties to fulfill the need for their own food and for food security in Indonesia (Purwaningsih, 2008) (Januar & Sumardjo, 2016) (Prabowo, 2010). In this modern era, farmers should be able to be professionals. They should not only be able to fulfill their need for them and their families but should also be able Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 4 to produce food maximally for the country's foreign exchange. The Indonesian government has long been attempting to increase farmers' standard of living since they contribute the largest portion of the Indonesian people's structure. Several kinds of program have been implemented to help farmers be able to have higher position of bargaining in the Indonesian economy. Various types of aid have also been implemented, commencing from the Subsidies in Production Facilities, Direct Capital Aid, Farming Business Credit, and so on (Nuryanti & Swastika, 2016). Nevertheless, the majority of the Indonesian farmers have low income; they still rely on various kinds of aid and always think that they are not able to do their own business.
Based on this condition, the Indonesian government makes a policy on revitalizing counseling, and one of its strategies is to empower farmers or farmers groups through Gapoktan (Farmers Group Association) (Ratna, 2012). Through this organization, all farmers' energies are combined to trigger the activities of the group. In other words, the farmers are trained to be independent by using their own power (Pujiharto, 2010). Besides that, this program has special advantage: the government attempts to increase its members' independent status and creativity since Gapoktan has a clear legal status so that it will have high bargaining and legal recognition as a business group. Gapoktan will have various kinds of business licenses, Bank accounts, assets, notarial deeds, etc., which are available for a business organization. Besides that, it will also be expected to be able to develop a strong and independent organization of farmers so that it can be an empowering force for reliable and dependable farmers in this global era (Koampa, Benu, Sendow, & Moniaga, 2015). It is a really strategic institution which can embrace all agricultural institutional activities (Pujiharto, 2010).
The continued existence of a farmers group needs capital, especially economic and financial capital, as a foundation of a business. Besides financial capital, social capital is also very important to be used as an investment for its future. Social capital can be defined as a series of informal values and norms mutually owned by the members of a group of people so that they can work together harmoniously (Mamahit, Wangke, & Benu, 2016). The essence of social capital is very simple; it is a social concern network which has values owned by all of its members. Viewed from a micro economy, this network has the right for private rehabilitation. According to Cox, social capital enables people to act collectively in coping with their problems and work together for their own benefit (Trisnanto, Fitriani, & Fatih, 2017). This condition is actually needed by the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, at Padangsidimpuan. Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 It consists of 15 (fifteen) small farmers groups at Padangsidimpuan. They do their activities in productive cultivation business and non-productive cultivation business. Besides that, it is also concerned with the activities in marketing agricultural production in micro scale in the form of retail dealers and other agricultural based-businesses in the form of seedbed, organic fertilizers, and savings and loan units. Based on this explanation, it is necessary to do a research on the use of social capital in the farmers group, Agro Prima, which is still active in various activities of its empowerment in maintaining and advancing its groups.

Theory of Social Capital
Putnam (1993)  Putnam's perspective of social capital is mutual trust, norms, and networks that can increase the efficiency of society in carrying out actions. The three elements that make up social capital Putnam consider as a prerequisite that must exist so that large groups of people can carry out collective action (Collective Action). As in his thesis, Putnam saw the existence of social capital as above correlated with strengthening democratic institutions, even exceeding that social capital is directly proportional to sustainability and economic growth.
This was compared in Northern Italy and Southern Italy which showed that social capital in Northern Italy was stronger than Southern Italy. The results of this article show that Northern Italy is more advanced with its industry thanks to the abundance of its social capital compared to the regions in Southern Italy. This is what was later tested in this paper with a different composition of people from Italy.
There are three important reasons for Putnam to say so. First, social network enables the establishment of coordination and communication to create mutual trust among the members of a community. Secondly, trust has positive implication in people's lives. This can be proved by the fact that the interconnection among the people who have mutual trust in a social network will strengthen the norms of the coercion in helping each other. Thirdly, various successes which have previously been achieved through cooperation in this network will encourage the continuity of cooperation in the future. Putnam further says that social capital can even bridge the gap among the groups which have different ideology and strengthen the agreement on the importance of people empowerment.
According to Robert D. Putnam, social capital is considered being able to play its important role because: a. by social capital, any citizens can solve their problems collectively and easily.
People can become much better if they work together and share to each other; b. social capital is able to increase the rotation which can cause a community to experience gradual advancement; and c. local community is able to increase people's awareness in general of what is occurring around them with various ways; in other words, social capital can feature public awareness. Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 7 Putnam considers that the existence of social capital will have positive correlation with the strengthening of democratic institutions. Furthermore, it is directly proportional with economic sustainability and growth. The strengthening of social capital depends on the capacity of individuals in developing a network in a certain group or community. One of the keys of success in developing social capital is the capacity of a group of people in an association or organization that is involved in a social relationship network.

Method
The research used qualitative method as recommended by Pereira at al. (2018). That's was aimed to help the researcher get the informants' point of views concerning the involvement of the members of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, at Lubuk Raya Village, Padangsidimpuan. The Gapoktan, Agro Prima, is a farmers group association inaugurated by the Head of the Agriculture Agency, Padangsidimpuan, in 2008. There are 15 farmers small groups that join with the Gapoktan, Agro Prima. The data were gathered by getting informants through purposive sampling technique with the criteria as follows: The informants were the local people of the research area and all of them were farmers who joined the agricultural community, Gapoktan (Farmers Group Association). There were 16 additional informants who fulfilled the research criteria; they were the management of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, its members, adat leaders, and the village apparatus. The data were gathered by conducting in-depth interviews in order to obtain profound description about the influence of the social capital of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, at Padangsidimpuan on the increase in the supporting power of its members.

The Form of the Norm of Commitment in Gapoktan, Agro Prima
The Gapoktan, Agro Prima, at Lubuk Raya Village has its own rules and procedures in doing all its activities which are embodied in its Articles of Association and By-Law which directly and indirectly bind all of its members. Any agreement made has to be followed by all members of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima. It is clearly specified in its Articles of Association and By-Law that all rules have to be complied or adhered either by the management or the members. Some of the rules include the right and obligation of the members, the tasks of the Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 8 management, voting process, the term of office (tenure) of the management, the discharge of members and management, and the process of managing the budget. There are some requirements which should be followed by all members who want to join the group; they have to be recommended by the management, they are farmers who get involved in agribusiness, they are not represented, they are required to pay for principal savings of IDR.20,000 (twenty thousand rupiahs) and mandatory savings of IDR.5,000 (five thousand rupiahs) for each member. Each member has the right to be present and to give his opinion about anything which is being discussed in membership meetings, to be an active and passive suffrage as the management, to do supervision on the organization, to give suggestions to the management, either they are asked or not for the sake of the advancement of Gapoktan either in or outside of the membership meetings, to get equal right in services among the members, and to get information about the organization's development. On the other hand, the members are required to pay for mandatory savings according to the amount specified by the organization's By-Law or by the decision made in the membership meetings, to participate in all activities done by the Gapoktan, to adhere to the regulations specified in the Articles of Association, the By-Law, and any decisions made in the membership meetings, and to develop and maintain the kinship principle based-cooperation. The basis for measuring the norms is confidence found in them in which one of the indicators is a positive expectation for mutual benefit. The rules specified in this organization are carried out according to the agreement among all components in the organization. The behavior of mutual obedience and appreciating the rules will cause all activities to be done according to what is expected by all members. The result is that all activities in the organization can be carried out well.
Good relationship between the management and the members of the Gapoktan is also influenced by the local people's adat (custom) and culture. There are some terms known by the people at Lubuk Raya village in the agricultural aspect such as mambuat ari which means determining the appropriate day for commencing planting crops and mamatok sanggarsanggar which means marking out boundaries with grass in order to ward plant disease off; it is spread on the wet rice fields owned by neighbors which are ready to be harvested at Lubuk Raya village. These activities become the tradition which can tighten bonds among the members of the Gapoktan by helping each other and working together among them. The compliance of the management and the members with the rules specified by the organization is realized in the form of reliability, working together, and harmony among all of the Gapoktan members. It helps realize the form of the bond of norms in the farmers group. Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 9

The Form of Trust in the Gapoktan, Agro Prima
The behavior which is reflected in the trust of the management and the members of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, in doing their activities and also as a social relationship can be understood from the information given by the members who have paid their mandatory membership fee and monthly membership fee to the management. They believe that what they have paid to the management will be beneficial for the advancement of the Gapoktan and for their own benefit in their future savings.
"We, members of the Gapoktan, pay our membership fee regularly which consists of mandatory membership fee and monthly membership fee. If we cannot pay them this month, we will pay them in the next month. We always avoid being billed. We realize that if a member cannot pay his membership fee, we assume that he gets problems with his income." (SH).
The realization of trust in the working relationship with the local government can be seen from the cooperation which hasbeen made with the Food Security Agency since the establishment of Gapoktan, Agro Prima, at Padangsidimpuan. The Food Security Agency of Padangsidimpuan has still maintained its cooperation with the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, because this organization always delivers its accountability punctually on the aid conferred on it. The initial agreement was embodied in the MOU by the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, and it still keeps its commitment; for example, it was conferred a rice barn construction for the whole village and a nursery bed in 2010, and it has still maintained their existence up to the present time (Source: the interview with Mr. IPH (initial name) the Secretary of the Food Security Agency of Padangsidimpuan.

The Form of Network in the Gapoktan, Agro Prima
Basically, norms cannot be separated from network since both of them are related to each other even though each of them has its own dimension. The network which is developed in the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, was begun with the norms which functioned as the rules which had to be followed by both the management and the members in the group in order to achieve a good cooperation in that group. A social network cannot be separated from communication Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 which yields a social interaction. Therefore, this network facilitates communication or interaction between the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, and the local government and private companies so that it will cause or create trust and cooperation among them. The network which is developed to increase the business activity can be seen from the interview conducted with the Head of the Gapoktan (EPH) as follows: "We need to cooperate with other elements to market our products, Therefore, we have cooperated with the Food Security Agency and the Agriculture Agency. We also cooperate with private companies such as Tambang Martabe Resort at Batang Toru and with any individuals who want to buy our products directly" The network for cooperation between the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, and the local government is in the channel of the harvest such as rice which is accommodated by the Food

Security Agency of Padangsidimpuan in Toko Tani Indonesia (TTI) in various areas in
Indonesia. TTI has changed a new market structure by always maintaining the balance among producers, traders, and consumers. In the initial system, a food product has to undergo 8 (eight) stages to reach consumers, starting from a farmer to milling (importer), distributors, sub-distributors, agents, sub-agents, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers . This long chain of food supply will automatically cause the food product to become very expensive. A new structure offered by the Ministry of Agriculture is that farmers can channel their products to Gapoktan which send it to TTI, and TTI will directly sells it to consumers (farmers -Gapoktan -TTIconsumers). It is expected that this system can make food price become cheap, and producers can get appropriate profit. There are 4 (four) TTIs and 2 (two) Gapoktans at Padangsidimpuan. The Gapoktan, Agro Prima, is one of the rice suppliers which supply rice to TTI at Padangsidimpuan. In one month, the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, can supply rice about 10 tons to the two TTIs at Padangsidimpuan.
Besides with the Food Security Agency and the Animal Husbandry Agency of Padangsidimpuan, the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, also cooperate with PT. Agincourt Resources Martabe Gold Mine or it is also called by the local people at Padangsidimpuan as Tambang Martabe. The process of Batang Toru gold mining which uses explosives is one of the reasons for the destruction at Batang Toru. Besides that, there was illegal forest exploration done on 2013 without the knowledge of the Forestry Agency. Therefore, in order to do the restructuring of the land which has been damaged, PT. Agincourt Resources collaborated with Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 11 the Gapoktan, Agro Prima. In this cooperation, the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, was asked to provide organic fertilizers which would put on the land which had been exploded so that it could be reforested. In order to fulfill the request of PT. Agincourt Resources, the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, provided about 2 tons of organic fertilizers each month. The cooperation between the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, and PT. Agincourt Resources has been lasted since 2012.
The network done by the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, has been able to increase the empowerment since its level has included the cooperation with not only the local people or its members but also with the local government and other big private companies so that it creates not only a horizontal relationship but also a vertical one. The network formed in the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, began with the interaction done by the management of the Gapoktan with the local government and private companies. They then interacted with the suppliers of the Gapoktan's products such as organic fertilizers and rice. The interaction pattern established from trust was a cooperative relationship which has been lasted until the present time. This condition is, of course, very beneficial for the business development of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, and for the empowerment of farmers as its members.

The Form of Social Adhesiveness in the Gapoktan, Agro Prima
Lubuk Raya is a village with homogenous inhabitants, either in their religion or in their ethnicity; meanwhile, all of the members and the management of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, come from this village. The homogeneity of religion, ethnicity, and dialect is the characteristic owned by the people at Lubuk Raya Village. From the interviews with the Head of Lubuk Raya Village, it was found that 95% of the villagers were Moslems and 95% of them were the descendants of Batak Angkola. It can be said that the inhabitants of Lubuk Raya Village are homogenous in their religion and ethnicity which will automatically cause their custom in doing their daily activities to be the same. This condition has made the members and the management the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, do not have any difficulty to cope with any problems found in the Gapoktan and to develop harmony in the organization.

The Form of Social Bridge in the Gapoktan, Agro Prima
Social bridge is a social bond which comes from a reaction against various characteristics of one's group. In this case, it can be an institution which exists in a society. It Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 plays its role in providing facility to cope with any problems in this community such as a cooperative. A cooperative in an agricultural community has its function as the facility for the members of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, to increase their harvest, from providing seedlings, fertilizers, packaging, and marketing. The development of harvest marketing is influenced by the support from cooperatives. To solve any problems which arise from the activities of production and marketing in the farmers groups, the members of the farmers groups use Bagas Godang (house for a king), Sopo Godang (public meeting hall), Saung Tani (a small watchman's hut built in rice plants), and Lopo Kopi (coffee house) which are used as the places for coping the problems in a family atmosphere by prioritizing mutual agreement. This is because when it is done by using martarobo (to find a family tree), it means that the whole members and management of the Gapoktan, Argo Prima, have the consanguinity to one another; therefore, they still hold the principle of Tappal marsipagodangan, udut marsipaginjangan, marsipatua-tuaan aso dapot hadamean which literally means always instilling the sense of togetherness and the form of address for someone according to tradition followed from generation to generation; in other words, we should pay respect, appreciate, and give support to someone else in order to get peace. This principle which is used to cope with any problems is closely related to the principle of holong mangalap holong. Holong literally means love or affectionate while mangalap literally means to pick up. In this case, the phrase implicitly means being mutually affectionate.
A negotiation, using the principle of holong mangalap holong is usually done between a middleman and a violator. The implementation is usually begun by casual small talk at a lopo kopi since most of the male adults at Lubuk Raya Village usually spend their leisure time at a lopo kopi. However, when this type of negotiation fails, the negotiation will be done at saung tani which is a kind of place where farmers usually hold their meetings, whether they are regular meetings or they are routine meetings or meetings held by the management.
Besides using lopo kopi and saung tani as the places for coping with any problems, there are also sopo godang and bagas godang which can be used for meetings. Sopo godang is an adat public meeting hall; it usually consists of a large space which can accommodate a large number of people so that it can be used for big parties or ceremonies. Meanwhile, bagas godang is a house dwelled by a king although it can also be used for having adat meetings.
Since the establishment of the Gapoktan, Agro Prima, these two places have never been used as the places for meetings by the Gapoktan because they are regarded as adat places by the local people. It is not impossible that if there is a problem in the future these two places will Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 13 be used for meetings since the inhabitants of Lubuk Raya Village still firmly hold their principle in the adat culture which has come from generation to generation. Saung tani is also used by the members and the management of the Gapoktan, Argo Prima, to discuss the solution of the existing problems technically concerning the new technology research on agriculture.
The social capital owned by the Gapoktan, Argo Prima, in every farming activity can be described as follows: There are rules which bind the management and the members of Gapoktan with the external parties that cooperate with them, whether they are formal norms specified in the Articles of Association and the By-Law or informal norms such as an adat law which is still firmly held by the inhabitants of Lubuk Raya Village.
Social capital as a set of norms in a certain group.

Trust
Reliability, justice, and respecting each other Sociability (values which are mutually developed) such as grace period for membership fee payment to the management and grace period of management to external parties concerning the lateness of sending the products and the responsibility for using the aid.
The reality is that the realization of trust is not only expectation based on religion but also sociability. Based on the table above it can be seen that there is a connection between Putnam's thoughts and the findings in this paper. Norm, becomes an important part in the establishment of an institution to regulate the activities of each member in the institution in accordance with the vision and mission of the institution. Norms also relate to the prestige and sanctions received by members and management of the institution so that it can be shown how these norms play a role in determining the attitudes of each member. Putnam mentioned how trust can maintain stability in every member of the institution, while the findings show how trust is not just an expectation but also sociability that is found in this Agro Prima farmer group.

Network
Lastly, social capital is a network that is a reciprocal relationship between management and members. In this paper, it is found that wider social networks with other institutions tend to be carried out by farmer group administrators. The adhesive of the three social capital is found in the culture in the community that is homogeneous so that when conflicts occur in members can be resolved with the culture that exists in the community.
Indonesian society is a multicultural society consisting of various tribes, religions, customs, and races that are scattered in various regions in Indonesia. In this paper, it is found that social capital in farmer groups is getting stronger with a homogeneous culture. Therefore, further research is needed with the use of culture in the study of social capital in farmer groups with a more diverse composition of society so that it can be seen whether culture can help strengthen social capital or can make it difficult to form social capital in a group.

Conclusion
This paper can contribute to institutions engaged in various fields. The results of this paper show how the importance of social capital in strengthening the standing and operation of an institution, where norms, trusts, and networks are needed by institutions, administrators in institutions, and members therein. Through the implementation of social capital, an institution can stand strong through good relations between members, between management and good relations with good institutions. The findings in this paper also show how the cultural role of each member in the institution can help strengthen the formation and maintenance of social capital in accordance with the objectives of this paper. Some applications of the social capital could be seen from the norms in the group which could be maintained by written and verbal rules which were obeyed and respected by all of the members as part of the group. Confidence owned by the members of the group could be seen from their reliability, justice, and mutual respect which are paid homage by each member.
Social network is established through interaction pattern of the management with other institutions in order to increase the capacity and the independency of the group members. The social capital which exists in this farmers group becomes stronger since their customs, traditions, and culture of the local people are very dominant. Homogeneity in religion and ethnicity in this area can create the harmony and reconciliation in the group. If there is a problem, it can be solved through the local people's culture. In this case, the culture and the principles of the ancestors can become the adhesive among the members of the group so that every element of social capital can be strengthened. The use of culture in social capital is expected to be able to provide positive effect on every activity done by this farmers group in order to increase their welfare.
It is recommended that the farmers group be able to accept other cultures or any changes which might occur in the farmers group so that the members will be able to guard them off. Even though the members will not always be involved in every activity in the group, they should be given binding freedom, and they should be empowered to make them independent so that they do not always depend on the Gapoktan. Therefore, readers can use this paper as a reference in understanding social capital that exists in institutions and how to Development, v. 9, n.7, e540974670, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i7.4670 16 build social capital that exists in social institutions. This paper agrees with Putnam's thesis which states that strengthening social capital is positively correlated in the welfare of the lives of members in the institution.