Some years ago, Ju started feeling uncomfortable with his work in a coffee plantation. In 2010 he decided to resign and started to farm fish in a “ranu”.
There are five “ranus” in the area of Mountain Lemongan, East Java. Together with three farmers, Ju started to open the “ranu”, developing cages made of plaited bamboo as big floating cages to have their fish well raised. In 2011 Ju earned around USD 100 per month. But in 2012 problems came up. Feed for the fish was very expensive, and worse, fish started to die. “According to extension officers of the agriculture ministry, this was due to the low oxygen, extreme weather, and the higher rainfall”, said Ju, born in 1980 in Lumajang, East Java. But he felt it was the up-welling phenomenon that often happens in the lakes in many places, like in their “ranus”. It was the down water moving up to the surface, bringing along the materials that harm the fish. “Our losses was quite significant, we earned small money from the harvest, we only got to the break-even point.”
Ju is a member of the Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API). In 2013, API invited him to participate in a “Southeast Asia Agroecology Training Course”, where subjects were discussed like pest and disease control, plant and animal nutrition, animal manure, biological agents, soil microbes, organic fertilizers, etc.
One month after this training, Ju asked API to facilitate a training on pest and disease control and how to make fish pellets in the village. Mr. Sutriyono, the “freelance scientist” with long hair, was invited to the village as the resource person. Several young farmers participated in the training, and now they make their own fish pellet which is more nutritious, cheaper, and easier to make for everyone since they use raw materials from the surroundings, such noni fruit, papaya, and other local fruits. The villagers also produce the bacteria Trichoderma and Beveria, which is benefit to their fish and plants. Now they provide the inputs for fish by their own.
“Now I earn Rp.7-8 million per month per harvest, I harvest the fish every 25 days,” Ju explained. “Before the training, I only earned Rp.2 million per month from harvest which was in every 37 days”.
Ju is not the only one who gain benefits from the training. A group of 15 farmers have raised their income as well. From two harvests, one farmer is able to buy a motorcycle.
Three other villages are now queing to be facilitated by Ju and the group to have their own “miracle” feed for their cows. Not to mention, the district office of the agriculture ministry asked Ju to facilitate their officers in order to prepare the establlishment of their farmer field school. Ju’s training turns out to have had a real snowball effect…
