Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki and Minister of Agrarian Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Sofyan A. Djalil accompanied by Lampung Governor Arinal Djunaidi reviewed the partnership pattern of PT Great Giant Pineapple (GGP) Terbanggi Besar, Central Lampung with the Banana Mas Farmer Group Tanggamus Regency on Sunday, February 28, 2021. The group saw firsthand the Pisang Mas cultivation garden in Sumber Rejo Village and Packing House 01 Arjuna Pekon Sailing Farmer Group managed by the Green Makmur Farmer Cooperative.
Head of Corporate Affairs GGP Welly Sugiono said that the company has partnered with banana farmers in Tanggamus Regency since 2017 with only 5 farmers but now it has reached 800 farmers with a partnership area of 400 hectares.
“GGP applies the Create Shared Value (CSV) concept, meaning that this collaboration is not profit sharing but value sharing. What is the value to the company and the value to the farmers,” said Welly.
Lampung Governor Arinal Djunaidi also appreciated the cooperation of farmers with GGP which already has a wide market share. The governor supports and hopes that Pisang Mas and other agricultural products can be spread throughout Lampung.
“GGP already has technology and market. Lampung has extraordinary agricultural potential, there is still a lot of land in Lampung, there are around 35 million ha. I think this banana can be developed evenly in all districts in Lampung in the future, “said Arinal.
“This partnership system is very good and this is one of our strategies in encouraging MSMEs to advance to class. We also have a social forestry program in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (LHK) where each KK can manage 2 ha of land for 35 years and build corporate farming,” said the Indonesian Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki.
“We came here to see firsthand the export quality of Banana Mas cultivation produced by farmers through a partnership with GGP. This is very good, the Ministry of ATR / BPN in this case supports agrarian reform so that this concept can be developed in other areas, “said Sofyan Djalil.
Suroto, “No Retirement For Farmers”
At a young age, Suroto (54) is getting more and more excited to be a farmer. Becoming one of the Pisang Mas partnership farmers in partnership with PT Great Giant Pineapple (GGP) further strengthens his determination to continue to grow and develop Pisang Mas cultivation.
“If I was working, I should have retired, but I am excited to join Pisang Mas’ partnership with GGP. The more you work, the more you will get results,” said Suroto while waiting for the arrival of the Ministers at Pekon Sumber Rejo on Sunday, February 28, 2021.
Suroto began partnering with GGP to plant Pisang Mas since 2017 and joined the Arjuna Farmer Group which manages Packing House (PH) 01 in Pekon Sumber Mulyo, Sumber Rejo District, Tanggamus Regency. Currently, on his private land, he is caring for 1,300 Mas Pisang stems. In addition, he also helped foster the care of 5,000 bananas belonging to the farmers who joined him.
As a farmer, this humorous man admits that he has carried out various farming activities, starting with coffee, cocoa, rice, and vegetable crops, but always loses when harvesting because the price is uncertain. He even admitted that he had destroyed his crops because the selling price was very low.
“Joining this partnership feels comfortable. Harvest is purchased according to the contract price, if you want to get a lot, you just need to increase the number of plants. That’s why I’m interested, how many tons of harvest will still be bought, so farmers can pursue as many targets as possible, “said Suroto.
Starting from seeds, work tools, and extension workers are facilitated by the company so that farmers can take care of their plants optimally. Seedlings are given from tissue culture so that they can be counted for target pursuit and good growth power. From the weeds, the growth is not uniform and the harvest cannot be done simultaneously. Suroto hopes to get the opportunity to have his own PH to develop this partnership. According to him, the presence of PH is very helpful in convincing farmers because the container already exists.
