<![CDATA[This study examines the relationship between social capital and farmer group members' participation in the Rice Barn Program in Pendem Village, Junrejo District, Batu City, East Java, Indonesia, a community-based food security initiative encompassing irrigation management, agricultural extension, and post-harvest processing. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted from January to March 2025, involving 193 farmer group members selected through accidental sampling from a population of 386. Data were collected via structured questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed that social capital was validly represented by three dimensions, trust, social norms, and social networks, after removing two low-loading network indicators, with all constructs meeting convergent validity (AVE > 0.50) and reliability (CR > 0.70) criteria. SEM results showed that social capital was positively and significantly associated with farmer participation (β = 0.456; t = 7.319; p < 0.001), explaining 69.2% of the variance in participation (R² = 0.692). Trust emerged as the strongest contributing dimension, followed by social networks and social norms. These findings indicate that stronger social capital, particularly trust-based relationships, enhances farmer participation in village-based agricultural development programs. This study contributes empirical and methodological insights into social capital's role in participatory rural food security, including clarification on interpreting path coefficients, R², and effect size (f²) in PLS-SEM analysis.]]>
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