Green-thumbed Samas farmers till barren land

Green-thumbed Samas farmers till barren land

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul, Yogyakarta

The land, hundreds of hectares, stood dry and barren. This lonely
site, located at the north of Samas beach in Bantul, about 40
kilometers south of Yogyakarta, used to spook people who dared to
enter the area.

The site was carpeted by sands. When darkness descended, the
party began, but all that was heard was the screeching sounds of
rats and civet cats feasting on fowls stolen from nearby
villagers' homes.

"We'd never thought of growing plants there, the thought of
passing the area even made us shudder. The area was totally
deserted," said Murobo, 56, a resident of Tegalrejo village,
about one-and-a-half kilometers from the location.

It was not until the 1990s that people started to think about
tilling the land, according to Murobo. He said that the land
belonged to the sultan of Yogyakarta and anyone who was
interested could cultivate as much land as they wanted.

Now, after dozens of experiments, the land has turned into
green fields planted with assorted plants, especially shallots
and chilies.

There are at least three groups of farmers who are developing
the land. Forty farmers belong to the Manunggal Farmers' Group,
led by Subandi, 25 from Tegal Lestari Farmers' Group, which is
led by Murobo and another 20 are from Tanggul Rejo Farmers'
Group, led by Suprapdi.

It was Subandi who was keen to develop the land. He was
inspired by a farming area in Thailand he had visited during a
study tour in 1986. He found that plants could grow well on rocky
land.

"If they could grow plants on rocky land, why couldn't we grow
them on sandy land? It was only a matter of the soil
composition," he recalled.

Determined to make the land fertile, in 2000, he worked with
the Agriculture Agency of Bantul Regency to experiment by mixing
the sandy soil with clay. He later grew shallots, and it worked.

"But the harvest was small. Only 14.5 tons of shallots from
one hectare of land," he said.

In the following year, he mixed dung and clay with the sand.
Several other farmers began to follow suit.

"But more people frowned on us and mocked us. Some even called
us weird," he told The Jakarta Post.

These derisive comments did not stop Subandi, a graduate of
Agriculture High School in Yogyakarta in 1975. He even worked in
cooperation with the school of agriculture of Gadjah Mada
University in Yogyakarta, in 2002 to find the right soil
composition for the land.

After dozens of experiments, he found the ideal composition to
turn the barren land into fertile agricultural land. For 1,500
square meters of land, he needed to mix two trucks of clay and
two trucks of manure. To make it more fertile, he added chemical
fertilizer.

He bought the clay as well as the dung for Rp 150,000 (US$18)
per truck and spent another Rp 500,000 for the fertilizer.

Four people were hired to work the sandy land. Four other men
mixed the sandy soil with clay, dung and fertilizer. Each of the
workers was paid Rp 10,000 for a day's work and received lunch.

"In total, it cost me Rp 200,000 to prepare everything," he
added.

Because the land belongs to the Sultan, people do not need to
buy it but they have to pay Rp 300,000 to till the land.

"Therefore, to till 1,500 square meters of land, I only needed
a capital of Rp 1.6 million," he said.

He said that the land was good for six planting seasons.
Therefore, with Rp 1.6 million, he could make use of the land for
three years. The total expenditure is considered little compared
to the rental fee for irrigated land, which amounts to Rp 7,000
per 10 square meters per year.

Subandi, who is also a former agricultural trainer, said that
a hectare of land could yield 33.7 tons of shallots for each
harvest or the same harvest one could get from planting on
irrigated land.

He also said that various kinds of vegetables could also be
planted on his land.

"The land can be planted at anytime. We could harvest our
plants when other farmers couldn't, and therefore we could get a
better price in the market," he said.

According to Suprapdi, a total of 46 hectares of land had been
cultivated. Another 20 hectares of land will be developed next
year.

"There is still ample land. If all of it can be utilized, the
villagers won't need to go to the city to find a job," he said.

How do they irrigate the land?

Tri Jumawal, 59, a local farmer, said that the farmers have
built sequential wells in the area.

They first built a dam measuring 100 meters long by 70 meters
wide and four meters deep at the southern part of the cultivated
land. Every morning, the water from the dam is pumped up and
channeled to a reservoir. When the tap at the top of the
reservoir is turned on, water will automatically flow to all the
wells, enough to water the fields for the day.

He said that a farmer is charged Rp 1,600 for each well, which
can be paid after the harvest time. "I have six wells, so I have
to pay Rp 9,600. Cheap and easy," he added.

Bantul Regent Idham Samawi said that he gave full support to
the farmers who had managed to turn non-productive land into
productive, income-generating land. He said the administration
would buy the harvest at a good price, even at a time when the
market price had dropped.

"We have allocated Rp 3.5 billion in anticipation of declining
market prices. Basically, we want to encourage the farmers. This
is important because 60 percent of the Bantul population of some
800,000 people depend on agriculture for their livelihood," he
said.