When Zahir and Asom first came up with the idea to plant cucumbers, or timun suri, on a large plot of idle land in their South Sumatra village, they were laughed at by their neighbors.
However, the middle-aged men from Ogan Ilir regency refused to give in, planting their first crop early this year.
It was no easy task to encourage villagers from the Beti and Muara Meranjat villages to help plant the initial crop.
"Other residents were reluctant to join in. We did all we could though and didn't give up," Zahir told The Jakarta Post at his home in Muara Meranjat village recently.
After two months of trial and error, their initial efforts bore fruit. It was only after witnessing the potential success of the project that other villages agreed to lend a hand.
Before filling the entire eight-hectare plot of vacant land with cucumbers, the villagers carried out a trial run near Lebung Karangan village.
It was successful, and today the farming involves some 30 workers to plant and harvest cucumbers, paying them Rp 30,000 per day.
This is a remarkable success story, considering the idea to grow timun suri on the land was suggested by Zahir after he found a pile of cucumber seeds in the Jalur 26 irrigation area in Sungsang.
While various other fruits and vegetables could be grown on the land, the villagers plan to stick with timun suri as their primary cash crop.
"We will always grow timun suri ahead of the fasting month due to an increased demand for it at that time," Asom said, adding that demand for the fruit was significantly lower outside the fasting month.
Zahir said rice could also be planted on the land, but without a hand tractor and startup capital the task would be difficult.
"The land would be more efficient if we were able to use a hand tractor because we could grow more crops, except for in the rainy season when the ground becomes waterlogged," he said.
To plant crops, farmers in the village collect cucumber seeds from mature fruits. The seeds are then rinsed, dried and kept in bottles filled with ash until they are eventually planted.
Growing cucumbers is not difficult, Zahir said.
Organic fertilizer is used to loosen the soil and make it fertile, with chemical fertilizer added 10 days later. Two seeds are placed in each of hundreds of small holes that are dug, and within two months the plants are ready to be harvested.
A hectare of farmland can usually produce 7,000 cucumber plants, which have the potential to generate Rp 50 million (approximately US$5,550) in profit.
During the month of Ramadhan, a kilogram of timun suri can fetch up to Rp 2,400. At this time, farmers sell more than 50 tons of timun suri per day to buyers in various cities across South Sumatra.
"Breaking the fast with a cucumber drink is very refreshing," a resident of Meranjat village explained.
No comments:
Post a Comment