Agustinus Faidiban is the leader of Romuni, a farming community in Kajasbo Village, Biak Numfor Regency, Papua. Farming is familiar territory for him, as he spent his childhood helping his parents in their field. His family is a nomadic farmer in Biak Numfor.
The more he contributed to the field, the more he realized that farming was more challenging than he thought. Initially, he also did not understand the usage of fertilizers and pest management. However, the lack of information did not bury his spirit to keep improving his farming skills. He learned a lot from online articles and Youtube videos. However, he struggled to follow the tutorial given through the internet, resulting in facing failure. Therefore, Agustinus hoped to have a mentor that could directly guide him with the farmlands.
“Everyone might be able to plant a crop, but I believe not all of them could take good care of the crops,” Agustinus said while explaining his motivation as a farmer.
Agustinus learned about the Yayasan Bina Tani Sejahtera (YBTS) and the training program during Farmers’ Field Day near his village. In 2018, a YBTS field officer passed his farmland by chance. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Agustinus immediately agreed to be one of the assisted farmers in the program. While undergoing the training, he learned the basics of many topics in farming, such as preparing the land, seeding, fertilizing, using pesticides, and many more. His farming community also got introduced to Sipindo, an application that could help them cultivate crops.
After participating in the training, Agustinus and Romuni felt a vast difference in their farming activities. The young farmers even held their own FFD in 2018, showcasing eighteen types of vegetables ready to be harvested. It became a massive achievement for the young farmers in Biak, an area often called “The Hot Rock City.”
Romuni focuses on cultivating chili, eggplants, cabbages, and tomatoes. Overall, over two thousand crops were being planted on their farmland. They could receive up to IDR 21 Million in profit during harvest.
