EN
ID
ACTNews, BANJARBARU
- Farmers in North Landasan Ulin (North Labuhan Ulin) Village, Banjarbaru
City, bemoan plummeting price of their produce during the harvest season.
This is what has
been experienced by the thirty-four farmers under the guidance of the Indonesian
Food Producers Society (MPPI) under Global Wakaf – ACT in North Labuhan Ulin. One
of them, Santoso, said the price of mustard greens and celery that he planted
had fallen.
"Currently, one
bunch of mustard greens is sold for IDR 800 to 1,000. Normally, it is above IDR
2,000," said Santoso when met in his garden in Kampung Baru, North Labuhan
Ulin Village, Thursday (10/21/2021).
Santoso said, the
condition has been going on for two weeks. He is worried that this condition
will continue and cause significant losses for himself and other farmers. One
of the contributing factors is the bad weather. "I hope the weather will
be good because usually if the weather is good, the selling price can go up
immediately, “said Santoso.
The MPPI North
Labuhan Ulin Program Assistant, Ustaz Ali Ridho, admitted that vegetable prices
have decreased since early October, especially the price of mustard greens.
“Based on our
observation, the price of mustard greens is IDR 500 to IDR 1,000 a bunch. This
is truly saddening to see this because farmers really hope that, as the harvest
is good, the price will also be good,” said Ustaz Ali.
MPPI North Labuhan
Ulin aims to provide a solution to this problem by packing the vegetables
produced by the farmers under its guidance to be branded as Sayur Si Apan.
“We have opened Si
Apan Vegetable Stall has been opened in the Handil Bakti area, Barito Kuala
Regency. Hopefully, we can increase sales of the vegetables. In addition, we
also mobilize mothers who are active on social media to market our vegetables,"
explained Ustaz Ali.
This method, said
Ustaz Ali, is done so that the vegetables grown by these local farmers can be
purchased at the best price. "If their crops are bought, of course, they
will be very happy," concluded Ustaz Ali.
On a separate occasion,
ACT South Kalimantan Branch Manager Zainal Arifin, said ACT South Kalimantan is
also trying to support the farmers through Cheap Food Operation.
“We are currently initiating
the Cheap Food Operation program to buy the farmers’ vegetables which then will
be resold at affordable prices for the beneficiaries,” said Zainal.
This program is
expected to benefit both farmers and people in need. "Insha Allah, we will
launch this Cheap Food Operation program on Saturday (30/10/2021)," said
Zainal. []
