Rice farmers go organic and earn extra money
Jakarta Post, Indonesia
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
The increasing popularity of organic produce in the capital has led farmers in uphill Bogor to dedicate some of their land to growing organic fruit and vegetables.
Farmers in Ciasihan village in the Pamijahan district, for example, previously relied on rice harvests.
“Pamijahan is traditionally one of Bogor’s rice producing areas, but farmers here were very poor,” Pamijahan district head Bambang W. Tawakal said during a public seminar Wednesday promoting local organic farms.
On June 5, 2014, the local government launched an education program working with PT Chevron Geothermal Salak, and Spora (a non-government organization aiming to improve farmers’ welfare), to teach farmers organic farming techniques.
Farmers were given management training, seeds and guidelines on how to grow organic vegetables and crops other than rice (to be planted as second crops during the dry season).
“They were also given marketing lessons to help them find buyers for the produce,” Bambang said.
Spora executive Ahmad Jamili said his organization had introduced the idea of developing organic farming in 2014 when they were training farmers how to make compost.
“We formed nine farmer groups … They started by developing their land and made compost for organic fertilizer in June last year,” he said.
Marta, head of the “Kecapi” group, said they had started to see big profits from growing organic produce.
Previously, he said, each farmer would earn only around Rp 125,000 (some US$13) a month (Rp 500,000 per quadrant planting season) from a 1.6-hectare rice paddy.
There are more than 8,088 hectares of rice field in Pamijahan district at the foot of Mt. Salak, around a two-hour drive from Jakarta.
Each hectare of rice paddy produces at least 8 tons of rice, Marta said.
These farmers now have an additional income of Rp 200,000 per month from a 400 square-meter organic lot, one quarter the size of a rice field.
They produce up to 30 kilograms of vegetables and tomatoes every week and sell them for Rp 6,000 a kilogram.
“Our only problem is there is no easy access to affordable vegetable seeds of good quality. We usually get them in Cibinong (the center of Bogor regency), some 30 kilometers from here, and there is no public transportation to take us there — so we have to spend a lot on transport.”
