Kedungkandang (malangkota.go.id) – The success of winning third place in the Millennial Farmer Competition held by the Malang City Food Security and Agriculture Service (Dispangtan) some time ago further motivated Jasmito, a farmer from Bumiayu. Now he is developing his agricultural land focusing on organic farming.
Jasmito explained that with the increasing public awareness of the benefits of organic vegetables for health, this sector is increasingly promising. He said the demand for organic agricultural products is increasing, but the stock is limited.
"We have no other choice but to continue opening up land to serve orders. Currently, we are opening up land in the Cemorokandang area," explained Jasmito, Friday (2/5/2023).
Jasmito admitted that the choice of location in Cemorokandang was not without reason. Several considerations were the determining factors, including the availability of large areas of land in the area and the availability of workers who were experienced in organic farming.
"We chose to open land for vegetable and horticulture farming on land that is also already using an organic farming system. We did this so that our products would not be contaminated by chemical fertilizers," said Jasmito.
Jasmito said organic farming is different from farming that uses chemical fertilizers that can be mass-produced in various regions. Organic farming products are more specific. He said it is not easy to find organic farming products amidst the many products that use synthetic fertilizers.
"This is our advantage in using the organic farming system. We never have trouble finding a market, because every product we produce is always sold out and often lacks stock," explained Jasmito.
With this fact, currently Jasmito continues to conduct cadreship especially by inviting the younger generation to be interested in organic farming. The reason is, with the high level of complexity in the organic farming system, many farmers give up on developing organic farming products.
"In fact, with the small number of competitors in the organic farming system, this business opportunity is still very good. This is where we play and take advantage of the market opportunities that are still very open," said Jasmito.
In addition, Jasmito revealed that the Malang City Government through Dispangtan is very concerned about encouraging farmers to produce organic agricultural products. This is an important factor in the prospects for developing organic agriculture which is still very good in Malang City. (cah/yon)
