Program turns farmhands into farmers

Budi Santoso, Antara, Cirebon, West Java

The young men of Blok Maja, Jatimerta in North Cirebon have gone through a remarkable change: from spending their days bored and their nights fighting with youths from neighboring villagers to becoming hard-working and successful.

The fights were usually over who ruled the crowded parking lot at the sacred Sunan Gunung Jati tomb.

Now, the youths of the two villages get along just fine and even play on the same soccer field in Jatimerta, located next to a cattle farm, which employs at least 80 workers -- from grass collectors and stall cleaners to security guards.

Street lights illuminate the village road at night, financed entirely by the group at a cost of Rp 5 million (US$500). Farmers can now set aside Rp 5,000 from the sale of each cow for the village coffers, which amounted to Rp 500,000 last year.

The changes were brought about with the assistance -- in the form of 36 cows -- of the Cirebon regental administration in 2003 for residents of Blok Maja. There are now 43 cattle farmers a remarkable increase from the previous figure of 18.

The cattle breeding venture, called the Pangguyangan Cattle Farmers Group, has flourished and the group recently won first place in West Java province's livestock competition.

The group's leader, Danusi, said many of the farmers had previously been farm hands or sheep herders in the village, and they were already familiar with raising livestock.

"In 2003, the sheep breeders' group won third prize in the provincial level competition, and gained first prize the following year. That spurred them on to success," Danusi said.

Edi said the promising business had made farm hands into farmers. Many had been able to purchase cars thanks to their achievements.

He said the Cirebon Livestock Office had even considered setting up a cattle breeding program as West Java had long brought in calves from other regions. As livestock breeding was time-consuming, farmers had opted for fattening the animals instead.

"A cow is fattened until six months, when it reaches a weight of anywhere from 120 kilograms to 150 kg. Farmers can then reap a profit of between Rp 2 million to Rp 2.5 million per cow," he said.

Walim, a 55-year-old cattle farmer who owns eight cows, said the business had changed his life. From his humble beginnings as a farm hand he now has millions of rupiah in working capital.

"When I was still a worker, I earned barely enough to live on. Having millions of rupiah in cash was just a dream, but now it's a normal thing for me to have that much money at my disposal," he said.

Thanks to the guidance and market access provided by the local livestock office, farmers can now pick calves from Central and East Java.

"Nearly all butchers in Cirebon get their beef from here, because we feed the cattle only with grass, which makes the quality of the meat better," said Saminggu, who handles marketing for the farmers' group.

Grass -- both wild and cultivated -- is abundant in the 10- hectare area where most of the cattle feed.

They are now looking forward to partnering with investors on a profit sharing basis of 40 percent for the investor and 60 percent for the farmer.

"There was once an investor who came here and was appreciative of the system, but he never returned, although the business potential here is still very good," Saminggu said.

The head of the livestock development department of the West Java Livestock Office, Koesmayadi, said one factor that had led to the farmers' success was their selectiveness, in terms of choosing cattle for breeding.

"They are highly motivated, because they know what poverty is like. From the moment the local administration provided assistance, they seized the opportunity," he said.