Not
Just Theory, but Action!
The words above are appropriately
pinned to Marthen Rangga
Mbani, a young man from Wudi Pandak, Tabundung district, East Sumba. Equipped
by knowledge and experience of learning about chickens in Yogyakarta, he has
raised chickens in his house. Not only that, he also cultivates his house yards to plant crops.
Initially, in July 2016
he and two students from Stube HEMAT Sumba got opportunity to study in
Yogyakarta as participants of Exposure to Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta because he had
actively participated in
Stube-HEMAT Sumba trainings. He chose chicken poultry as his learning focus in Yogyakarta
because he breeds chicken in his house, Mboka,
Kanatang, East Sumba. He hoped that the knowledge and skills got in Yogyakarta could help
him to manage chickens at home, so he can sell with a better price and the profit will
be used to pay his
school fees at STT Terpadu, Waingapu.
In Yogyakarta, beside
studying about Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta and how to breed chicken, Marthen
also learned integrated
agriculture in Joglo Tani at Sleman Regency under the guidance
of TO Suprapto, an
experienced agricultural practitioner. He practiced management of integrated
agriculture, the role of livestock in agriculture and assembling safe and
healthy chicken coops.
His learning process
was continued to Temon,
Kulonprogo to learn how to raise chicken with Gendut Minarto, a chicken breeder having wide networks. He learned some
steps of raising chicken
that starts from preparing cages, feeds,
vaccines and hen coop heater, sterilizing the cages, vaccinating chicks and
feeding chickens, classifying chickens ready for sale based on size and weight.
Upon his return to Sumba,
he started raising chickens in his village in Tabundung, but it
failed
because all chickens
died of sickness and season change. He did not give up. He moved his hen coops to Mboka, Kanatang, where he lived
temporarily for college. One year after his efforts of raising chickens, he
managed to maintain the chicken and sell 10-12 chicken per month.
Currently Marthen is
preparing an incubation coop to reduce the risk of chicks death. He has 4 hens, three of them
will lay eggs and one hen is laying eggs. Meanwhile, there are twelve chickens
ready to sell at 50.000 rupiahs each.
Besides doing chickens,
along with rainy season in Sumba, Marthen cultivates his house yards in Mboka. This area
is known as hilly, arid and rocky area. People say that it is impossible to
grow corn, sweet potatoes, peanuts and other crops, but Marthen has faith that
when soil is cultivated, it will yield. He cultivates the soil and adds organic manure made from
animal dung, such as, pigs,
chickens, goats and compost from twigs and leaves. He avoids chemical ones because it will damage the soil. He believes that a good effort will be blessed by
God because there is a willingness to do. Come on, not
be just NATO (No Action
Talk Only).
"I thanked to
Stube-HEMAT who has given me training on raising chickens, so I have income
from it, although it just a little but I can help my parents. I will continue this
chicken business although I have limitation because I have to share time
to study in campus. I try as well as I can, thank you Stube," he said.
That’s right, young people, knowledge settled in the head will not be useful for
others. Marthen has started with raising chicken and his experience is
improving by utilizing his house yards for planting crops. Keep the spirit and
be a blessing. (TRU).
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