Getting More Money with Horticulture

Many people think that horticulture cannot provide a good income. The meager harvest with months of waiting time makes most people impatient to get profits. But that thought was successfully broken by Dahlan Tunika (59), an organic farmer from Hiri Island, Ternate.

Almost half of Dahlan's life was spent doing farming activities. Since graduating from elementary school, he has become a cassava farmer where he lives. Recently, Dahlan and his wife got banana seeds from Wahana Visi Indonesia Ternate Program Area. He admitted, horticultural agriculture can prosper his family, even this agriculture can provide great benefits for farmers. His children were able to stay in school thanks to this agricultural product.

 "One harvest can get 9 million rupiahs for an area of ​​one hectare,"

Currently, Dahlan is more focused on tomato and chili horticulture. According to him, the price of tomatoes and chili is currently profitable for farmers. In addition, tomatoes and chilies are promising commodities for the City of Ternate, given the high consumption level of tomatoes and chilies.

Now one of Dahlan's children, Juwita, has also felt the benefits. Juwita also benefits from organic horticultural farming. He can also manage income well and save it in ASCA (Accumulating Saving & Credit Association)

On May 31, 2021, Dahlan and Juwita received more than 800 plantain seeds and duck mouth bananas (Mulu Bebe). Dahlan believes that this banana seed assistance will not only have a positive impact on farmers, but also the Ternate community itself, considering the culture of consuming bananas in the Ternate community is very high. Also, many tourism places are selling Mulu Bebe fried bananas priced at IDR 20,000.

“I see there is a good opportunity if farmers start planting bananas in their respective gardens. Besides being able to be consumed personally, this banana is a commodity that is sure to sell well in the market. Especially for Mulu Bebe,” he said.

Not only Dahlan, Juwita, and their farmer groups got the seeds, the duck mouth banana, and plantain varieties were also distributed to 180 farmers assisted by WVI Ternate Program Area. 

For Dahlan, what WVI has done has helped him and the farmers on Hiri Island to get the best quality of agriculture. Not only providing seeds but also providing maximum assistance. This makes many farmers concerned because they feel cared for.

Written by: Devina Prima Kesumaningtyas, TP4 Coordinator of Ternate Program Area Wahana Visi Indonesia