Kampung Bayam Madani Farmers' Group Turns Weeds and Market Waste into Fertiliser for Urban Farming

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Kampung Bayam Madani Farmers’ Group produces fertiliser independently to manage their urban farming plots at Kampung Susun Bayam in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. Group leader Muhammad Furqon said the fertiliser is made from organic materials including weeds and market waste processed into compost. ‘This fertiliser is part of our tradition. Our principle is that nature is the master of the weeds, the land belongs to it. We never remove the master,’ he told Kompas.com on Monday (25 May 2026). ‘If we lack weeds in our garden, there’s plenty at the market, so we collect market waste,’ he added. The weeds are manually chopped before being dried or processed using available machinery. Besides compost, organic waste separated by residents is also used as fish feed. ‘Same here, we have the machinery too. So we’re prepared for everything,’ he said. Furqon added that the Kampung Bayam Farmers’ Group avoids chemical pesticides in plant care. He noted that the collective and organic farming system is maintained even as residents farm in the limited urban area. ‘We’ve always been collective. This is our home,’ he said.