Usually, young people choose to work in offices at this time.
However, it is different from Putut Sudarsono (29), a resident of Glinggang Village, Sampung, Ponorogo who prefers to be a farmer.
According to Putut, by being an example, it will motivate the youth in his village to utilize natural resources by farming.
“How do we make it useful for those around us, it does not include a big one for ourselves,” added Putut.
In addition, continued Putut, farmers are a major milestone in the nation’s life. This is because food is the main source of life.
The plants he chose were pumpkin butternut or honey squash.
The fruit called the Latin Cucurbita moschata, in addition to its unique shape similar to peanuts, the buttery-colored flesh has a sweet taste with a soft texture.
“In total there are five points of this butternut crop in our village. The number of stems is almost 5 thousand,” said Putut.
Putut explained that one stick usually produces four kilograms of butternut. The selling price per kilogram reaches Rp 7 thousand.
“Usually I sell it to West Java and Jakarta. Apart from the fruit, I also sell the seeds,” said Putut.
For one point containing 800 stalks, the turnover is estimated at more than IDR 30 million with a planting period of 80 days.
However, farmers must also face obstacles when planting pests when the stems are still soft.
Plants aged 20 days, sometimes exposed to leaf curl or catch viruses and fungi.
“But the maintenance of butternut is easier than melons and watermelons, and the price is stable,” said Putut.
Not only delicious, but butternut is also good for health because it contains high fiber, antioxidants, beta carotene, vitamins A, and B complex.
It is also good to be used as a complementary food to breast milk for babies.
