The Deputy Chief of the Susut Police Sector, Bangli Police, Bali\nRegional Police, Ipda I Nyoman Subamia, has become one of the candidates\nnominated for the 2026 Hoegeng Awards for encouraging farmers to\ncultivate elephant ginger. Ipda Subamia has also developed compost\nfertiliser for agricultural use.<\/p>\n
Local resident I Nengah Sudiasa said Ipda Subamia\u2019s initiative has\nhad a positive impact on local farmers. Ipda Subamia is known for\ndedicating his time after duty hours to assist farmers with elephant\nginger cultivation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact has been very good for the community, especially for me\npersonally, as I now have work,\u201d Sudiasa told detikcom on Tuesday (10\nFebruary 2026).<\/p>\n
Sudiasa noted that the majority of local residents are farmers. They\nfrequently consult Ipda Subamia on how to cultivate elephant ginger to\nachieve good harvests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe often teaches technical methods, because most people in the\nvillage grow ginger. If neighbours go to the garden, they ask Pak\nSubamia for advice on how to tend the plants, what fertiliser to use,\nand how to do the spraying,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Ipda Subamia is also known for promoting the use of compost\nfertiliser in agriculture. The composting process involves collaboration\nwith universities in Bali.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fertiliser comes from compost and also chemical sources; the\nspraying uses chemicals. Initially, composting is done for the soil, and\nonce the plants have successfully grown, chemical fertiliser is then\napplied,\u201d Sudiasa said.<\/p>\n
For Sudiasa, Ipda Subamia is a good person. He believes Subamia has\nhelped many farmers and improved the local economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, he\u2019s a good person. Sometimes he goes straight to the\ngarden after leaving the office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Providing Technical Assistance to Farmers<\/strong><\/p>\n Local farming group member Ardana Putra said Ipda Subamia provides\ntechnical mentoring to farmers. Farmers are guided on processing\ntechniques to maximise their harvests.<\/p>\n \u201cHe happens to serve as our field technical mentor. From pre-land\npreparation, there are actions that require farmer accompaniment,\nespecially beginner farmers in ginger cultivation who need guidance from\nthe start \u2014 from land preparation, seed selection, through cultivation,\nmaintenance, and post-harvest, all require mentoring,\u201d Ardana told\ndetikcom.<\/p>\n Ardana said the predominant commodity grown by local farmers is\nelephant ginger. He noted that elephant ginger sales have been quite\nsatisfactory.<\/p>\n \u201cFor ginger, each clump produces a minimum of 3-4 kilogrammes, so 1\nkg of seed can yield approximately 15-16 kg,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Farmers, Ardana added, are also taught how to use compost fertiliser\nfor elephant ginger cultivation. Ipda Subamia provides direct mentoring\nto farmers in cooperation with field agricultural extension workers and\nuniversities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mandatory primary fertiliser for pre-planting is compost. Pak\nSubamia has implemented composting that does not use raw manure \u2014 so\nbefore planting, the fertiliser is fermented first, and this has become\na standard in our group. This is for the resilience of the ginger plants\nthemselves and also to maintain soil nutrients, because using raw\nfertiliser is not good even if it is organic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Encouraging Farmers to Grow Ginger to Boost the\nEconomy<\/strong><\/p>\n Subamia has had a passion for agriculture since secondary school. He\nhas continued to pursue this interest even after joining the police\nforce.<\/p>\n When serving as a community policing officer (Bhabinkamtibmas) in\nTiga Village in 2017, Ipda Subamia encouraged local residents to develop\nelephant ginger cultivation. He explained that elephant ginger farming\nis very straightforward yet commands a high selling price.<\/p>\n \u201cThe planting method is the same, but the results differ, because\nelephant ginger is very easy to maintain, and the yield is perhaps ten\ntimes higher than ordinary ginger,\u201d Subamia said.<\/p>\n Subamia noted that the impact of elephant ginger cultivation has been\nhighly significant. Farmers can earn tens of millions of rupiah at\nharvest time.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes residents earn tens of millions from elephant ginger\nsales. This has had a positive impact, leading to a reduction in\nunemployment and other criminal activity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Subamia explained that local residents have varying sizes of ginger\nplots. Planting varies, with some residents cultivating ginger on plots\nranging from 3 are to 10 are. Each are requires approximately 20 kg of\nginger seed. Meanwhile, the harvest from one are can reach 300 kg.<\/p>\n \u201cA farmer can produce at least 5 tonnes per year. Two people I have\nmentored have produced 20-30 tonnes \u2014 multiply that by Rp 15,000 per kg,\nwith a mature harvest at eleven months, or a young harvest at six\nmonths,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, one person I guided earned up to Rp 1 billion, because his\nproduction benefited from good weather, good yields, and good prices,\u201d\nhe said.<\/p>\n Elephant ginger prices once surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. He\nnoted that elephant ginger prices at the time reached Rp 40,000 per\nkg.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring COVID, prices went up to Rp 40,000, especially red ginger \u2014 I\nonce sold it for Rp 100,000,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Subamia said the local population\u2019s livelihoods are based on farming\nand poultry rearing. Before ginger cultivation was introduced, farmers\ntypically grew citrus fruits and rice. Given the promising elephant\nginger harvests, Ipda Subamia encouraged farmers to allocate part of\ntheir land to growing elephant ginger.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many here \u2014 from Tiga Village, each household grows\nginger, with a population of around 7,000,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Ipda Subamia said elephant ginger cultivation has successfully raised\nresidents\u2019 living standards. He noted that residents have been able to\nrenovate their homes from the proceeds of their harvests.<\/p>\n \u201cCommunity members have been able to improve their homes after\nparticipating in elephant ginger cultivation for the second time,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n Becoming a Resource Person on Ginger Cultivation<\/strong><\/p>\n Due to his work in elephant ginger, Ipda Subamia was sent to the\nBogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) for training. Following this, he\nbecame a regular speaker in the Bali Regional Police\u2019s annual food\nsecurity programme.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were indeed sent for training at the Bogor Agricultural Institute\npreviously, but before that it was self-taught. At the Regional Police,\nwe serve as the resource person \u2014 it has been running for five years for\nthe elephant ginger cultivation programme. We regularly serve as a\nspeaker every year in August and September, during the ginger planting\nseason,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ipda Subamia said he is also currently entrusted with supporting the\nnational police\u2019s food security programme. He has prepared approximately\n2 hectares of land for maize cultivation.<\/p>\n \u201cFor maize, we plan to plant 2 hectares for the police. We also work\nwith the community \u2014 when the time comes, we will mobilise community\npolicing officers to plant maize as well,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Partnering with Universities to Develop Compost\nFertiliser<\/strong><\/p>\n In elephant ginger cultivation, Ipda Subamia also utilises compost\nfertiliser sourced from local livestock farms. He has partnered with\nMahasaraswati University Denpasar for the composting process.<\/p>\n \u201cWe source organic fertiliser from livestock farmers, and through\ncooperation with Mahasaraswati University, we also have Trichoderma\nculture available, and we have received recognition for this\ncollaboration,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Subamia said the compost fertiliser is not produced for sale. Rather,\nfarmers are taught how to make their own compost for use on their\nindividual plots.<\/p>\n \u201cFor organic fertiliser, we use it ourselves. We direct farmers to\ncollect it from there, then process it at their respective locations \u2014\nfermented and mixed with EM4. It is all done manually; we do not produce\nit for sale, just for personal use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ipda Subamia and local farmers have also established farming groups.\nThis facilitates the planting, maintenance, harvesting, and sale of\nagricultural produce.<\/p>\n \u201cI always provide continuous guidance so that residents feel they are\nbeing looked after. Now the results are being felt by the community,\u201d he\nconcluded.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/how-deputy-police-chief-subamia-boosts-bangli-residents-economy-through-elephant-ginger-cultivation-1771468601",
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