Legacy for Children and Grandchildren
Maximus Mokos, or known as Om Maxi, is a Moringa farmer in Naiola Village, North Central Timor Regency, NTT. In farming, Om Maxi admitted that he did not focus so much on certain commodities. Since attending the Moringa planting training organized by Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) in Kupang, he began to have the knowledge and awareness to plant Moringa.
Previously, Om Maxi only planted vegetables, but even then only once for 3 months a year. He did it annually. Initially, the husband of Martha Sanam gardened with the 'slash and burn' system and moved every year.
With the knowledge he has gained from the training, he already has his own Moringa land area of ??1.79 ha: 1.5 ha is a leaf cluster and the remaining 0.29 ha is a seed cluster. From the results of the leaf cluster, he was also involved in helping to handle stunting cases in TTU Regency by selling Moringa leaves in the villages of Naiola, Taekas, and Amol for Rp 100,000, per 3 days per village for 1 week.
Om Maxi was involved in this activity for only 6 times (1,5 months) because the leaf stock had started to decline coinciding with the dry season. Maxi has also sold 5 kg of dried leaves for Rp25,000/kg and 10 kg of moringa seeds for Rp85,000/kg to the Naiola village administration.
Now, the father of three children has been living in permanent gardening since planting Moringa in 2018. He realized that by planting Moringa he did not have to bother every year to move the plantation land because Moringa was planted on the same land and only done once in a lifetime. Moringa planted by Om Maxi has begun to bear fruit.
"I am now starting to feel happy because even though I have not yet enjoyed the full results, I am confident and believe that God will never close my eyes to those who always pray and work hard," he said optimistically.
Om Maxi targets in the next 2 to 3 years to harvest large quantities of Moringa. The 52-year-old man dreams that this Moringa plant will be a legacy for his three children. According to him, this dream was realized if the government and NGOs help to give workshops on how to post-harvest processing and closer market access to farmers.
Over time, many incitements from others who say that Moringa does not have a market, but the spirit of Om Maxi until now has never faded. However, Moringa is now the main commodity of the NTT Governor's program called "Green Revolution" which requires each region to plant Moringa as a source of nutrition and a source of economic income.
Om Maxi can now smile seeing many parties moved together by planting Moringa. He hopes to be able to be connected with the market or Moringa buyers by WVI so that their business is not stalled. Thus, their efforts will continue to be a legacy for posterity.
Written by: Kalistus Taena, External Consultant Project for the Moringa NTT Wahana Visi Indonesia
