TEPAT

'Teknologi Pantas Tani' : 

Suitable and Appropriate!

Cultivating seeds of hope amongst poor farmers is the goal of our agricultural team.  This unit of SNT, called 'TEPAT' is working shoulder to shoulder with poor farmers, in their own villages, to develop appropriate technology equipment and experiment with different crops. 

Why is our work important?

Throughout this country about 70% of the population live in rural areas and small villages. Most village people live very simply, cooking over an open fire, and bathing in a stream. They cultivate their gardens and rice paddies with hoes and have no machinery. They have no cash for buying medicine and many parents can’t afford to send their children to school.

Since they cannot afford to risk attempts with unknown crops, poor farmers tend to plant only proven traditional crops which often give them little return and can even leach the soil of nutrients. This being so, we feel we are provided an opportunity to help them by experimenting with soil improvement and various methods of farming, accompanied by new varieties of seeds.

Right: One of our neighbours in the simple surroundings of her home. She is now the proud mother of a healthy baby boy

Funding for these projects often gets absorbed in administration etc and the poor farmers don’t receive benefit, unless NGOs pass on the skills and results of the projects directly to the farmers. Partnership between all groups is essential to reach the goal of genuine development that improves life at the village level.

Chip Village

Chip Village is the name we have given to the small rural hamlet where we have begun our first forays into agricultural development and appropriate technology.

The first plot of land we rented, in Chip Village, was sufficient to build a simple house as the centre of operations.  We have also built a chicken coop over a small fish pond, a large rabbit hutch and a small goat shed.

Late last year we rented a second area adjacent to the first, for the sole purpose of experimenting with some different crops. We planted a selection of different beans and legumes. The land is on a slope, so we have planted a protective hedge/fence to stop all our work from being washed away. 

Our second site is closer to the town on a ¼ acre block close to the main market. We've called it 'Tan’s Place' and we’ve rented it since August 2001. The soil is much better than in Chip Village and allows for some trials of cash crops.

Milking Goats

Traditionally,  for those who can afford to buy them, goats have always been raised for sale as meat at the time of the Idul Adha ('Feast of Sacrifice') religious festival. At this time the price of goats reaches a premium, and it is hard to resist 'cashing in' on the seasonal opportunity. 

We have been trying to encourage a long-term breeding programme, which once initiated would not require the purchase of young goats for fattening, and would also make available milking ewes, to supplement the diet of those living in the village.

Our Staff

 Nurdin  is a graduate from agricultural college who has joined us for a one year practicum. He is keen to integrate his training with development work. His experience could prove to be the catalyst which really starts the whole project moving.

Left: Nurdin planting some beans, out in Chip village

S.R.I. System of Rice Intensification

We have recently learnt about a new way of cultivating rice, which elsewhere around the world has yielded harvests much greater than those achieved using the usual method.  A local farmer group has already been experimenting with this methodology, quite independently of us, with some very encouraging results.

It is a more labour intensive method that requires great care to be taken of the immature rice seedlings, which are planted individually rather than in a clump of 4 or more. Planted individually at a very young age, and further apart, the rice plants are able to develop a stronger more extensive root system which results in a greater yield.

One of the most comprehensive a accounts of how and why SRI works is on the ECHO web-site at:

www.echonet.org/tropicalag/ednissues/text_eng/edn70t.htm

Future plans include starting new projects in a number of other villages, outside our city. We hope these will be in cooperation with groups of 5 – 10 farmers, using their own land and/or village owned land.

We will be a single member of the farmer group, so as to avoid future financial dependence upon us, and ensure the decisions are jointly owned and jointly shared.