Agricom.id, PASURUAN – Again, one young man successfully proves as a farmer. Heri Tahan Muji (36), the millennial farmer of Village of Sekarmojo, Sub district of Purwosari, District of Pasuruan, East Java Province develops coffee. The turnover could be more than Rp 100 million in every single month.

Besides selling coffee up to 2.500 kg per month, he also provides employment for the females and young generations in his district. They are involved to help the post-harvest process, such as, the fruit sortation, fermentation, seed sortation, sangari, promotion, and marketing.

Heri brands his coffee as “Kopi Lesung Arjuno”. It is in premium quality. He planted the coffee in the lower area of Arjuno Mountain within 1.300 meter above the sea within specific characteristic and taste. He cultivates Lesung Arjuno together with Kelompok Tani Candi Mulyo and it has been organically certified in European standards. “I have been planting coffee since 2002,” he said, Monday (5/10/2020) as in the official statement to Agricom.id.

In the process, he continued, it was not easy in the first place. Kelompok Tani Candi Mulyo sold the coffee in cherry. The middlemen bought our harvest about Rp 5.000 per kg for Robusta and Rp 8.000 per kg for Arabika. "We sold the coffee in cherry because we did not know anything and we did not have the post-harvest tools,” he memorized.

Slowly but sure, Kelompok Tani Candi Mulyo told him to sell it. But now he proves that he could produce coffee in many kinds, starting from the natural, semi wash, full-wash, wine, and honey both in Robusta and Arabica. He bought the harvests from the members to be in good taste to drink.

The government has something to do with what Heri succeeds. The group is developed by General Directorate of Plantation, Ministry of Agriculture in the Sertifikasi Desa Pertanian Organik berbasis Komoditas Perkebunan program.

Head of Balai Besar Perbenihan dan Proteksi Tanaman Perkebunan (BBPPT), Surabaya, Kresno Suharto said that since 2018, BBPPTP Surabaya did many developments, starting from the cultivation, pest and disease control in organic ways to Kelompok Tani Candi Mulyo. "We also helped them by giving post-harvest tools and how to sell the product,” he said.

This is the same with the program in ministry of agriculture to make more agricultural businessmen from the millennial generations. Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo in the Hari Tani Nasional in Jakarta, last September 2020 told that the country is looking forward creating the agricultural innovation from the upstream to downstream sectors to get the additional values. It needs to support the millennial farmers to multiply the new young farmers.

The development of Desa Organik Program of BBPPTP Surabaya, as Bayu Aji Nugroho continued, is about to realize the economy as what Heri now gets. It needs commitment and solid synergy from every member of the group. The most important thing is that there should be actor(s) to mobilize. “It needs young generation, like Heri because he is one inspiration, could motivate, and persistent to develop coffee in good quality and increase the farmers’ income,” he said. (A2)