Diversification of Crops Increase Farmers’ Income
Telaga Mato, a farmer group of 20 farmers from Peleri Village, North Halmahera was formed in 2019. Most members of the group are active coconut farmers, whose coconuts are processed to make copra. In early 2017, the price of copra significantly decreased from 850 USD/ha to 250 USD/ha which really hit their economy.
In February 2019, they visited a Yayasan Bina Tani’s Field Day in Sabale Village where they became interested in vegetable farming. They started to plant chili and other vegetables on 2,500 sqm land. Unlike copra, they had to work on their farm every day. However, in 25 days they already earned their first income from harvesting caism, kangkong, and spinach. In 3 months, there were more crops to be harvested namely chili, tomato, and shallots. They applied GAP (Good Agricultural Practice) i.e. land management, nursery, fertilization, pest and disease identification, integrated pest management, and water management (drip irrigation).
During the harvest time, the Telaga Mato farmer group were very happy because the chili yielded 600 kg, with a price of 4 USD/kg, so the total sales of chili were 2,400 USD. Telaga Mato as a pioneer has influenced the surrounding farmers (including women and youth) to start planting vegetable crops in their village. They now understand that growing vegetable crops can improve income and get a better livelihood.