“For pesticides we are using certain vegetables that wouldn’t kill pest, just repel them out of our range. And we also introduced certain bugs that would consume those pests. We just harvested about 2.5 tons of rice. And the waste from the rice, dedak, will then be distributed as feeds for the farm animals, including our geese, ducks and our fish down there. Wild grasses are also cut to feed the lambs”“I saw you were using planted water hose to systematically water your plantations?
“Oh that, yes, it’s true. We have our own spring in here. And the water is trapped in that basin over there, some of them will be diluted with nutrients in which will be pumped up there to the green houses, and we have an auto-timer for that”
“Oh wow, so how many farmers do you hire here?”
“Just the two gentleman you saw earlier”
“Are you crazy?”
He wasn’t crazy I suppose. He was just purely and ingeniously resourceful. We passed a goose den before reaching the saung to chat further. “These are my security guards.” he said. “These geese will cry if they see any unfamiliar faces, like what they’re doing now, the same goes if some predators are on the loose such as mountain cats or foxes, and they will also alarm you, if any natural events such as earthquakes and mountain eruption will occur”
And then I sat my fat ass on the bale-bale. I was facing vast rice terraces as my buena-vista. It was cool and mellow as the rain had just stopped there. I felt so calm and relaxed there. The air was a combination from the sweetness of fresh air, grass and dirt aroma, and of course a whiff of manure smell from the barn not too far from the saung.
“I am not the owner of this place. The owner is a very busy person down there in Jakarta. He was giving me this place to run. And I am responsible to make it work and expand. As if he was giving me this fishing-rod. I am the one who is fishing, but I am also responsible to share the fish with him”
“Many people today are screaming about the price hike of fertilizers. We don’t have to, we have our own fertilizer farm down there. And using natural pesticides are way way cheaper than those chemical ones. They also don’t harm the land and the plants and there wont be any danger for you to consume them.” he continued.
“Imagine our fertile nation. How can we face any lack of food, any lack of tempe (soybean cake)? Gone are the times when all farms were self sufficient like this one. Thirty years ago, someone started forcing us to consume ready-made things for the farms such as those seeds, fertilizers, and even pesticides. Now we are too dependent on other nations. Look at Japan, with only 40% of their lands are being used, they can still supply rice for their own rice-eating nation and even export them here” he stopped to lit his cigarette.
“We hire villagers in times of needs, sometimes we supply them with food on top of that. Crime often happen if you are hungry. That’s what we are trying to avoid here. Not only for your stomach, every week we are having this pengajian (religious gathering) in here to supply our food for thoughts and for our hearts. And as a manager, I need to be efficient yet trustworthy to also be a role model for my employees.”
It was total eye-opener. As if an extension of some sabda (words) from the Lord, Pak Kiky's lecture were both heart-warming and as I mentioned, eye-opening. Even the geese that quacked insolently before, then gathered themselves naturally and just relax their long necks on top of each other's back.
That seemingly humble place was actually a very effectively ran farm. They waste not and they sell the surplus. Very smart.
Then he gave me the permission if I wanted to bring some school kids up there to feel the farm and to help him out for a day. Why can’t people like him be our agriculture minister?
It definitely worked for Saung Kiky.
Rolled up jeans, bare feet, country-styled,
Prof. Utonium
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