MaxFM, Waingapu – The regent of East Sumba, Drs. Khristofel Praing, M.Si., promises to grant a tractor to the community of farmers at Tanambi of RT 07, RW 04, Mbatakapidu village, the district of Kota Waingapu. The commitment is meant as a form of government support to farmers to cultivate their lands.

“I will provide a tractor so you can cultivate all farmlands in this area. That way, you can gain more,” he said.

Khris’ commitment is delivered to respond to the request of a local farmer, May Hau Li (66 years old) after the group harvested organic shallots. Khris hopes that the farmers will use the tractor to cultivate their land.

The harvesting activity was also attended by the chairperson of the Family Welfare Development group of Sumba Timur (TP PKK), Merlyati Simanjuntak on Saturday (06/11/2021). The shallot farms in Tanambi is one of the farming groups empowered by the Foundation of Radio Community MaxFm Waingapu (YKRMW).

Khris added that a tractor is a form of appreciation and support from the government to the local farmers. He expressed his admiration for the farmers’ effort to tackle the challenges of land cultivation during the dry season.

“I thank Om Hein (the familiar nickname of the Director of Foundation of Radio Community MaxFm Waingapu or YKRMW, Heinrich Dominggus Dengi) and friends for their support. They have supported the government in assisting the local farmers fighting the impoverishment here [Tanambi],” Khris said.

May Hamu Li admitted that previously they only cultivated their land and planted corn in the rainy season. In the dry season, local farmers only grow a limited number of vegetables for self-consumption. The reason is that they have to use buckets to fetch the water from a nearby river to water the vegetables.

The situation changed in 2020 as they established a collaboration with YKRMW. The foundation provided the farmers with a Barsha pump that helps farmers cover a larger area of cultivation. Additionally, farmers do not need to carry water-filled buckets from a nearby river to their farmland. Using the pump, farmers can simply turn on the faucet to water their plants.

May also said that YKRMW does not only help them with the Barsha pump. The foundation has assisted the farmers by providing seeds and organic liquid fertilizer (POC) Max 28. Because of the foundation’s contribution, farmers can grow vegetables organically.

The Director of YKRMW, Heinrich Dominggus Dengi, said his foundation sees that the watershed areas are potential farmlands in East Sumba. Using the technology of the Barsha pump, farmers can cultivate their lands even during the dry season. For that reason, he is committed to helping the farmers in Tanambi through collaboration in 2020.

“We found the land by coincidence last year [2020]. After having some conversations with the landowner, we agreed to cultivate the land together,” Heinrich said.

Heinrich added that the collaboration with local farmers involving the foundation commitment to organic farming and eventually yield organically grown crops. Therefore, at the first stage of the farming process, he encourages the farmers to use manure taken from their barns. As for the following stages, Heinrich promotes the use of organic liquid fertilizer (POC) Max28, a product developed by YKRMW.

Using sprayers, one hectare of farmland requires 7.5 liters of POC Max28. The interval for applying the fertilizer is two weeks. Because shallots need four months of planting period, farmers will only need the total amount of 60 liters of fertilizer.

“With adequate amount of fertilizer, we can yield 10 t0 20 tons of lokananta shallots per hectare of land. Therefore, if farmers cultivate more lands along the watershed in East Sumba, [I am optimistic that] we can provide East Sumba with local shallots,” he said.

Heinrich expects that when the government has granted the farmers a tractor, they have to be able to use the it to optimize their productivity. He also pledges that the foundation will continuously support the farmers by installing the Barsha pump at Tanambi.

“I hope that the tractor will encourage farmers even more, not the other way around. Farmers should keep their eagerness to cultivate the land. If they don’t [work the farm], we will move the pump to other locations,” he said. [Translator : Itha Priyastiti]