Farmers in Malalak, Agam harvest first crop on disaster-affected land
Malalak, Kabupaten Agam — Several farmers in Jorong Toboh, Nagari Malalak Timur, Kecamatan Malalak, Kabupaten Agam, West Sumatra, have conducted their first harvest of vegetables on Tuesday on land previously affected by hydrometeorology-related disaster in late November 2025.
When met at the agricultural land, a local farmer, Fitriadi, explained that farmers in the area chose to convert their rice paddies into vegetable farms because the main irrigation channel had been severed and buried under landslide debris following the floods.
Approximately three and a half months after the disaster, according to Fitriadi, farmers had already begun their first harvest. Various commodities such as leeks, aubergines, and beans have been harvested, whilst chilli plants are still in growth stage.
“Some have been harvested, the chillies are still small, the leeks have been harvested, and there are also aubergines. Well, the community’s economic activity can move for these two months,” said Fitriadi whilst harvesting beans.
The middle-aged man stated that economic activity among residents had come to a halt because road access was cut off, which hampered the distribution of agricultural products and buying and selling transactions. Additionally, farmers had to work extra to clean the land and loosen soil that had hardened from the impact of flash floods.
For this first harvest, Fitriadi estimates the yield could reach around 10 kilogrammes. Meanwhile, for the next harvest, production is predicted to increase to 20–25 kilogrammes.
If the harvest is small, he will sell the produce to middlemen at a price of Rp6,000 to Rp7,000 per kilogramme, whilst if the harvest is abundant, he will sell to the Padang Luar market in Agam at a price of around Rp10,000 to Rp15,000 per kilogramme.
“Thank God now we can bring harvest results even though the road opens and closes, it just opens when needed. We are truly grateful this road can be used; the village is full of life again. During the disaster, the villagers’ faces looked sad for about two months,” said Fitriadi.
A similar statement was made by another farmer, Fadli Nur, who also conducted his first harvest of leeks after converting his rice paddy. In the first harvest, he managed to collect around 35 kilogrammes of produce.
“How can we do rice farming, we don’t know where the water source is, the main irrigation is gone, everything is buried. The land is dry because it comes from forest soil; the plan is to plant leeks everywhere. This is just the first harvest, the initial one,” he said.
Fadli sells leeks at a price of Rp5,000-6,000 per kilogramme to buyers who want to purchase directly from his home. Meanwhile, the selling price at Padang Luar Market starts from Rp7,000 per kilogramme.