Do you want to eat?

Rice is not the absolute one

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PROGRAM: Food Diversity

Sumba is one island in East Nusa Tenggara province. Most of the people of Sumba live as farmers and do farming of rice and corn. Because dry season in Sumba is longer than any other regions, it requires certain types of crops which suitable to be planted in this area. The dependency on certain foodstuffs is risky if the crops failed due to weather and pests, as it happened in the past few years. Also the tendency to use chemicals to enhance crop production without thinking about the long-term effects.

The people of Sumba should be aware to this situation, especially students, as Sumba next generation. There is a stigma that agriculture is considered unattractive, outdated and less prestigious, but actually people should be aware that farming is the backbone of a nation to survive.

Stube-HEMAT Sumba as a forum for mentoring students to think about it and equip them through a training on Organic Agriculture: Food Diversity, with a theme 'Do you want to eat? Rice is not the absolute one’. The training was held at GKS Kawangu, East Sumba on Friday-Sunday, September 16-18, 2016. The theme was chosen to trigger the creativity of youth to process food  except rice, and to motivate them to optimize house yard into a productive garden.

Thirty six students from various campuses in East Sumba attended the training. The facilitators are expert in the field of agriculture, such as Yulius Anawaru, S.P (team of Stube-HEMAT Sumba), Umbu Ndilu Hamandika, SP. MAP from Food Security Agency, Rahmat Adinata (organic agricultural practitioner) and Bambang Broto Kiswarno, an agricultural practitioner.

The presentation of the participants of Exploring to Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta opened the training. They were Irmawati Rambu Konga (STT GKS Lewa) who learn sewing and making bags. Marten Rangga Mbani and Sumitro Umbu Ndamung (STT Terpadu) learned poultry and integrated farming. Frans Fredi (Unwina) practiced textile printing business and pins. Nikson KW Laki Hama (Unwina) learned rearing goat in pens and nutrition, and Krisna Hamba Banju (AKN) learned intensive swine breeding.

Yulius Anawaru, team of Stube-HEMAT Sumba, recalled the green revolution and its impact on Indonesia. Agricultural land was flooded with chemical fertilizers in order to increase crop production. The diverse foodstuffs were finally changed into absolutely rice. Local food then is not developed, even it is eventually forgotten. This should not happen and the organic agriculture movement must be continued and carried out by youth and students.

Umbu Ndilu Hamandika, from Food Security Agency, East Sumba Regency invited participants to look back on food diversity in Sumba. In addition, it is important for them to pay attention to the quality and food safety for public consumption.

"What is the purpose of farming or planting?" It was asked by Rahmat Adinata, a practitioner of organic agriculture and activist of organic farming to the participants. All participants were eager to answer, and most of them said for food sufficiency that has been sustainable for years as a livelihood. But, according to Rahmat Adinata, the most appropriate answer was harvesting. Indeed, being a farmer is not easy, starting from land cultivation to be ready for planting, preparing good seed, maintaining plants and so on. He conveyed the materials quite simply and participants got the materials well.

Agriculture could not be separated from pests. How can we solve it? Various methods of pest control was delivered by Bambang Broto Kiswarno and Abner HR Liwar. Interestingly, the ingredients to make organic pesticide was easily found in Sumba. Including eradicating locusts which broke out violently in East Sumba.

However, participants were not just as listeners as they were motivated to practice the knowledge they have learned from the facilitators. Several college-based groups were made to do follow up by cultivating land, preparing the planting media and planting vegetables and petatas (sweet potatoes) in house yard. Finally, let us start food diversity, guys! (TRU).