Internet helps farmers reap more profits

Internet helps farmers reap more profits

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Bojonegoro

Suhar, 28, a peanut farmer likes to show off the new cell phone
he bought two months ago. He could afford to buy the cell phone
after he reaped significant profit from his peanut farm using a
management and production method based on knowledge Suhar
obtained from the Internet.

Suhar said his profit had been soaring since he adopted new
production techniques and management principles he acquired from
an information technology training held by PT Microsoft Indonesia
last year. "This cell phone is evidence that the information
technology has helped me acquire more profit. My net revenue was
Rp 400,000 before I adopted the new management and production
techniques, but now it is Rp 4 million a month," said Suhar.

The training program is aimed at empowering local farmers to
benefit from the latest technology with the long-term goal of
alleviating poverty in Indonesia.

In addition to equipment and facilities, two instructors will
be assigned to train and guide trainees in computer literacy in
an area where the program is conducted.

Microsoft first developed the information technology-based
program, called Unlimited Potential (UP), by working together
with non-governmental organizations to accomplish a long-term
training program by establishing the Community Training and
Learning Center (CTLC) in October, 2003.

Each CTLC will be provided with modern equipment made
available to the farmers and their family members. They can
obtain wide access to information, exchange ideas among fellow
farmers and enhance their knowledge of information technology.
There are 30,000 people in Indonesia who benefit from the
presence of 28 CTLCs across the country located in Banda Aceh,
Jambi, Medan, Mataram, Makassar, Denpasar, Pontianak, Sukabumi
and Bojonegoro, among other places.

Suhar gained knowledge on farming techniques in accordance
with market demand from the training he received at the Garis
Tepi CTLC in Bojonegoro.

Previously, Suhar and a number of peanut farmers in Manukan
village, Bojonegoro, had cultivated the three and four-pea
peanut, the quality of which was considered good, but was not in
demand, resulting in little profit, while some farmers had even
incurred losses.

After he received Internet training from Microsoft in early
2004, he obtained information on the high demand for two-pea
peanuts on the market.

He continued searching for extra information on two-pea peanut
cultivation, and finally shifted from planting three and four-pea
peanuts to the two-pea variety.

To market the peanuts, Suhar, with the help of the two
instructors at the CTLC, posted himself on one of the Websites,
and eventually secured buyers from Pati, Central Java, and Jember
in East Java. "I am better off now. I can set aside some of the
profit from the peanut sales to put in the bank," he said.

Suhar is not the only person in Bojonegoro who has benefited
from the IT training program organized by Microsoft, but other
farmers, including school students and women have also gained
from the program.

Rusmianto, a young man in Bojonegoro, hopes to set up a small
business after completing his training at the CTLC. The 20-year-
old man who has only completed elementary school, hopes to open a
greeting card printing business in Bojonegoro.

PT Microsoft Indonesia's public relations manager, Cynthia
Iskandar, said that her company would continue developing the
program and set up more CTLCs.