The Regent of Siak Alfedri harvested watermelons in Merempan Hilir village, Mempura sub-district.
The watermelon fruit harvest is carried out in the garden belonging to the Anugrah Farmer Group with a land area of 3 hectares.
“Alhamdulillah, today we are harvesting watermelons, on land belonging to the Anugrah farmer group, Merempan Hilir village, this samangka garden is a program of Baznas Siak Regency with a productive business pattern. There are 3 hectares of land prepared now, which is used to plant 1 hectare of watermelon, ” said Alfred.
He continued, from the area of land that was prepared with the range of yields that farmers could get per hectare in one year it reached IDR 210 million.
“This 1 hectare of watermelon can produce 20 tons, if the price in the community is IDR 3,500/kilo it can reach 70 million in less than 3 months. If a year can be harvested 3 times 70 million x 3 = IDR 210 million / year, much more big results from palm oil,” he said.
He also hoped that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it would greatly impact the economic sector, so that people were demanded to be productive in looking for new opportunities that could support the family economy.
“We encourage the community in the midst of the Covid 19 outbreak, to be productive, especially the cultivation of horticultural crops and nutmeg, so that these are available in the region, so that we do not bring in from areas outside Siak,” he explained.
The productive efforts carried out by Anugarah’s farmers are currently an effort to raise the economy of the pre-prosperous community in Siak district.
“This year, through the Siak Sejahtera program, BAZnas Siak has prepared 1 billion in funds intended for MSME businesses (micro, small and medium enterprises) for 2 villages in one sub-district throughout Siak district, so there are 28 villages that will receive productive business benefits from BAZnas,” he explained.
The head of the Anugrah Farmer’s Group, Eri Yanto, said that the land where watermelons are currently being planted, including the lowlands during the rainy season yesterday, had been submerged watermelon gardens.
“We asked the Regent for help, so that a trench was made, so that the water flows, thank God the local government’s heavy equipment came and dug the trench, so that the water flows,” said Eri.
The moment when the regent came to the watermelon garden was used by Eri to ask for a tractor to destroy the soil. In order to facilitate subsequent planting.
“We currently need a hand tractor, to make it faster and easier to work,” he hoped.
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