SAID HASIM, PIONEER OF ORGANIC FARMING IN …Said Hasim is a citizen of Purwodadi Village in Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan. He is certainly aware of the importance of developing

SAID HASIM, PIONEER OF ORGANIC FARMING IN PURWODADI VILLAGE

USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD

By: Jelfi

Organic farming is becoming ever more popular as people become aware of the issues surrounding con-servation of the natural environment. Organic farming has become increasingly important in the context to address climate change and food security. Organic farming is a new environmentally friendly economic opportunity.

Said Hasim is a citizen of Purwodadi Village in Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan. He is certainly aware of the importance of developing environ-mentally friendly farming and cultivating plantations without chemicals. As a father of seven children, he became an expert without any help from books. He conducted trial after trial to find the right com-position in making organic fertilizers to maximize his harvest results.

The saying where there is a will there is a way is certainly appropriate for him. When he was a staff of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Service Office of Pulang Pisau District, he was actively in-volved in doing research on organic farming with many resourceful mentors, so he was able to learn from them. In fact, even though he was transferred to the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency, he con-

Hasim said “By practicing envi- ronmentally friendly farming our income in fact is much higher and the land where we live on is better preserved to ensure sustain-able forest products compared to the conventional practice that is more expensive and unsustain-able”.

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tinued to learn and share knowledge with others. Apparently organic farming is never out-of-style nor merely just a trend, but it is always relevant for con-cerned farmers like Hasim.

Said Hasim learned a lot from the consequences of using chemical products for his farm and plan-tation, which was aimed to boost production and control pests. However, Said understands that che- mical products are only good for the short term. In the long term these non-natural substances can be harmful, as the chemicals would adversely affect the fertility and productivity of the land. Besides that, since these chemicals are expensive and some-times scarce, this would also have a negative effect on the harvest quality as well as affecting the far- mers’ welfare.

Interacting with Nature

Hasim began his “long search” for the right compo-sition of organic fertilizers by applying it on his own land plot. Despite having found the right mixture, he still had to face the fact that planting on peatland was another challenge since peat has high acidity and the soil must always be regenerated. His curio- sity drove him to continue his own experiments, with only limited knowledge and with the help from a good friend who had access to lab testing facilities.

Although he himself did not have any farm animals, he built a simple barn so that his neighbors who owned cows or goats could put their cows and goats in his barn, while he could collect the animals’ manure for free.

Talking to Hasim and seeing him at his land plot

around his house is like playing an online farm game (Farmville) in real life. The difference is that Hasim could really make enough money from selling his farm products to fulfill his family’s needs and send his children to school.

“It would be impossible if I only relied on my salary as a government staff to pay for my children’s educa-tion. So I had to try to find a way to meet their school needs. From this organic farming, I could provide for my family,” said Hasim.

The extra income for his children’s education and daily needs was from the land plot around his house and in his back yard covering an area of 0.5 hecta- res. On this land he planted various vegetables and fruits such as spinach, celery, mustard leaves, bana- nas, ginger, and other plants.

Having limited capital, Hasim used the available re-sources around his home such as dry hay to replace plastic mulch to protect his farm plot from pests. His monthly earnings from his farm averaged about 2 million Rupiah. This is a higher value compared to that generated from the neighboring farmers.

In addition, Hasim has a rubber plot of 4.5 hecta- res, and 2 hectares of this land is already productive with rubber sap. Just recently he tried his luck by planting Sengon trees (Albizia chinensi) on a land of 4 hectares, as Sengon offered a high economic value for farmers like Hasim.

Never Stop Learning

Learning through experience is the best teacher. The recurring peatland fires in Kalimantan are one of the best teachers for Hasim. Hasim believes

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Photo: Said Hasim, showing off his organic vegetaable garden.

that land cultivation can be done without necessar-ily burning the land. This not only prevents forest fires, but it is also “healthy” for the farmland and the plantation. Cultivating the land without burning can produce compost more efficiently. The compost fertilizers are made by digging a canal every 5-10 meters and then covering it with grass to produce organic fertilizer. This method is certainly much bet-ter than burning the land.

Besides that, chemical substances are no longer used, as they are replaced by MOL (local micro- organism) to produce organic fertilizer. Cow and goat manure and other natural material such as charcoal saw dust, and dolomite are then fermen- ted and mixed with a certain amount of farm ma-nure to produce organic fertilizer that helps rejuve-nate the peatland.

Based on his experience in farming, he could shorten the planting-harvest cycle to only 27 days. Although he never labelled his produce as orga- nic, the vegetable and fruit vendors in his village already know that his products are from organic farming and are valued much higher. In fact, Hasim has become a local producer for organic fertilizers to meet the local demand since it is also quite lucrative.

Building a Collaborative Economy

Hasim’s encounter with the USAID LESTARI pro- ject was actually just a coincidence, but it was a fruit-ful one. Hasim met with his friends who were trai- ned under the previous USAID IFACS program on cultivating rubber plants. His curiosity again lured him to ask his friend on how to learn about the BOKAR technique (Bahan Olahan Karet or Pro-cessed Rubber Material) and about the profit he could make if he could sell it directly to the rub- ber factory instead of through middlemen. Realizing the big difference in price if he sold the material to the factory, he also wanted to have a chance to par-ticipate in the training held by IFACS.

Not long after he had followed the training from IFACS, Hasim took the initiative to buy the BOKAR from the farmers in other villages. He dried the rubber and sold it directly to the rubber factory. The profit he made was quite significant. How- ever, he eventually realized that if he worked alone, it would drain his energy and become time consuming.

In 2015, LESTARI encouraged the farmers to esta- blish a Business Unit for Rubber Farmers (KUBK) in Purwodadi Village under the name Panuntung Jaya. Hasim was appointed as the BOKAR Quality Control Manager, as he was experienced and know- ledgeable in processing BOKAR. He is responsible for ensuring the quality standard of the BOKAR from the members of the business group.

According to Hasim, he gained a lot of understand-ing on rubber cultivation from the training held by LESTARI and was able to practice GAP (Good Agri- culture Practices). He was also able to access the market to secure a better price. When the price of rubber declined, he did not have to sell and simply waited until the price rose once again so that he could gain a maximum profit.

Using organic fertilizers for farming and for cultiva- ting plantations certainly helps farmers both as in-dividuals as well as a group. It allows them to adapt to climate change and take steps in practicing envi-ronmentally friendly and sustainable farming, while reducing costs with a more stable harvest. Hasim believes that organic farming is one way for future farming in Central Kalimantan.

As a farming pioneer, Hasim said “By practicing envi-ronmentally friendly farming our income in fact is much higher and the land where we live on is better pre-served to ensure sustainable forest products compa- red to the conventional practice that is more expensive and unsustainable”.

According to Hasim, if you want to gain success you should prioritize togetherness, simplicity, and

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Photo: Processing animal manure into compost

love. When we talk to him we can learn a lot from his life philosophy as a person who is dedicated to his family and environment. He said, “You must love your work and have a strong commitment to- wards what you are doing. Those are the keys to suc- cess, and then money will come after that. Without passion for your work, it would be impossible to gain anything from things around us.“

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