Redi tells the story of his life journey with his wife and two children, admitting that in order to meet the needs of his small family, apart from relying on his 2-hectare coffee plantation, he often does activities outside of gardening by working as a casual laborer.
Redi does this because the sweetness of the coffee harvest is only enjoyed once a year. Meanwhile, the long time waiting for the coffee plant to bear fruit is economically insufficient to meet daily needs.
I am very grateful to have entered into a partnership contract with PT Great Giant Pineapple (PT GGP) by cultivating Mas banana plants. Partnering with this company’s Mas banana plantation has helped increase income and productivity of good banana plantation results.
“I hope to continue working with PT GGP to improve the quality of life of my family in the future,” said Redi, who is also the Head of the Packing House 07 Pari Kesit Farmers Group located in Pekon Penantian, Ulu Belu District, Tanggamus Regency.
For the past 4 years, Redi has been a member of the Mas banana partnership farmer. He started a partnership with PT GGP in 2020. Through this partnership, Redi received technical assistance, superior seeds, and access to a wider market.
After partnering with PT GGP, this swami from Jariayah admitted that he experienced an increase in income. On average, he gets a net profit of IDR 2 million per week.
Within 4 years of partnering with PT GGP, Redi has become one of the successful Mas banana farmers in Tanggamus Regency. At his residence, a Packing House measuring 10 X 30 Square Meters has been built with assistance from the company to facilitate banana processing.
From the operational activities of banana packing at the PH he manages. He is able to produce Mas bananas for local market needs with an average of 250 boxes/week, and for export with an average of 30 boxes per week.
“Alhamdulillah, with this PH activity, I can employ 10 people. Not only do I get benefits from partnering with PT GGP, but I can also help my closest neighbors by creating job opportunities,” said Redi.
Redi admitted that as the head of the farmer group, he worked hand in hand with 100 farmers who joined the Pari Kesit group by having 50 hectares of Mas banana production land and at the end of 2024 there will be an addition of new partnership farmers joining with 10 hectares of land.
To achieve maximum banana production, of course, the procedure for managing plant care must follow the operational standards for care according to the SOP provided by the company as the core partner.
“If you just join a partnership carelessly, you will definitely not get results. It’s different if farmers follow the SOP for care and cultivation, farmers will definitely get greater profits because the expected fruit is what the market wants,” said Redi.
So far I feel that PT GGP’s support is extraordinary, not only providing seeds and then farmers planting, but as a company continuing to assist farmers by providing technical guidance on cultivation, providing support for production packing materials, and support for care and control of pests and diseases.
“In addition to support in cultivation, I am interested in joining this partnership because one of the guarantees is the price and market. At least I get 3M, namely Easy, Marketing, and Minimal Risk,” said Redi with a light laugh.
This Mas banana has almost no risk, especially theft in the garden is not compared to local bananas because many collectors do not want to buy Mas bananas because they know this is a partnership banana.
Although there are farmers who plant Mas bananas and do not participate in partnerships, when they want to sell bananas to banana collectors they do not dare to buy, he said.
