Village Head in Wonosari Hunts for Used Water Gallons to Grow Rice, Harvests One Ounce per Container

Dukuh Ngelorejo, Gari, Wonosari, Gunungkidul, Susanto (44) has found success planting rice in used water gallons. He admitted that the effort to hunt for these used gallons was not easy.

He said it took months to obtain the used gallons. He searched for them not only around Gunungkidul.

‘I looked for gallons as far as Jogja. If anyone was selling them for Rp 1,000 per gallon, I would buy them. That was the first obstacle,’ said Santo Mboso, as he is known, when contacted by phone on Wednesday (1/7/2026).

He transported the used gallons using his motorcycle. Santo admitted he did not want to buy from scrap dealers so he could get a cheaper price.

‘The challenge in finding the gallons was looking for a cheap price. Because at scrap dealers, they cost Rp 2,500 to Rp 3,000, whereas from individuals they are only Rp 1,000,’ he explained.

Over four months, Santo managed to collect 1,200 used gallons. However, only 840 gallons could fit in his yard.

He then planted Ciherang rice in these gallons. Santo revealed that maintaining the rice plants requires minimal effort and is also easy to monitor.

‘Planting rice in gallons has many advantages, such as easy maintenance because you just need to water it. And most importantly, there is no need for hoeing or ploughing the soil,’ he explained.

‘It can also be monitored directly because it is located in the yard. So if there is a sparrow attack, they can be chased away immediately,’ he continued.

Santo claimed the harvest results were quite good. He said each used gallon can produce about one ounce of grain.

‘The harvest yield for one gallon averages one ounce of grain. So you just multiply the number of gallons by one ounce,’ he said.

He admitted that not all of his rice plants have been harvested yet. This is because he did not plant them all at the same time.

‘It is not yet harvest time again now, because they were not all planted simultaneously. The main point is that residents now know that planting rice or other crops does not require high costs and can be done at home,’ he said.