CENTRAL BANGKA - "We will use this assistance for seeding oil palm seedlings, because 80 percent of the farmers in Kulur Village are oil palm plantations," said Chairman of the Kulur Jaya Joint Farmers Group, Rusli.
This was conveyed by Rusli when receiving assistance from PT Timah Tbk in Kulur Village, Lubuk Besar District, Central Bangka Regency, Wednesday (2/3/2022).
He said that his party chose to sow oil palm seeds with the aim of farmers being able to buy oil palm seeds in the Joint Farmers Group at a relatively cheap price compared to market prices.
Rusli said that the agricultural sector in Kulur Village is quite varied. This is indicated by the various types of community plantations such as oil palm, pepper, rubber and horticultural crops. The types of horticulture they have planted are corn, beans, chilies and shallots.
Kulur Jaya Joint Farmers Group has been established since 2016. In addition to stimulating the agricultural sector in Kulur Village, this Joint Farmers Group also oversees the distribution of subsidized fertilizers to the community and fosters farmers in farming activities.
"We also provide understanding to farmers about today's agricultural technology. This is of course the result of collaboration with the District Agriculture Service with the Kulur Jaya Farmers' Association for the advancement of Kulur Village Farmers," he said.\
The development of the agricultural sector in Kulur Village also bores fruit, where horticultural farmers managed to harvest 12 tons of shallots. However, due to unfavorable weather conditions, the shallots could no longer be planted.
"This type of onion plant is very susceptible to weather, especially if it has been raining all day, it can cause onions to rot," said Rusli.
To deal with extreme weather conditions, the type of horticultural crops grown by the farmers turned to red chilies.
"The weather in Bangka is suitable for growing chilies, besides that the price is quite profitable for farmers," said Rusli.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Kulur Village, Dori Faisal, appreciated the assistance provided by PT Timah to the Kulur Jaya Joint Farmers Group. Because with this assistance, the enthusiasm of the people of Kulur Village to farm.
"If you look at the interest from the Kulur Village community regarding agriculture at this time, the enthusiasm of fellow Farmers is extraordinary, especially with the existence of two groups of Millennial Farmers in this village, they are more active in farming," he said.
He mentioned that the farmers have harvested red chilies several times and do not stop there, they also continue to plant horticulture with this type of red chili in a sustainable manner.
"Hopefully with this assistance for Joint Farmers Group, the name of Kulur Village will be more known," he said.*
