Farmers are ensuring people in the city can purchase fresh vegetables in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak. Just order through your mobile phone, vegetables will be immediately delivered.
By
Melangi Mewangi
·5 minutes read
DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI
Dasep\'s teahouse is a place for packing vegetables from nearby farmers in Garut Regency, West Java. They sell their crops through social media. Free delivery services are also offered with a minimum purchase. Consumers also just waiting for orders at home.
Farmers are ensuring people in the city can purchase fresh vegetables in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak. Just order through your mobile phone, vegetables will be immediately delivered. City residents don’t need to go home. Let the farmers work and meet your needs.
Dasep Badrusalam (33) is little shocked. In the midst of the pandemic, he heard that a vegetable farmer around his house in the village of Sindang Mekar, Wanaraja, Garut, West Java, was having a hard time trying to sell his vegetables.
Vegetable supply in wholesale markets in Bandung and Jakarta has declined by 30 percent. Due to transportation restrictions, farmers face difficulty in selling their vegetables.
Not having many supporting resources, Desep uses his mobile phone and WhatsApp group chat. In his WhatsApp\'s status, he posted a picture of his parents\' red chili harvest.
More orders came from social media. Requests for various types of vegetables from friends also came.
The picture received a response from his friend in Garut. He needed 1 kilogram of red chili and asked to be delivered directly to his house. More orders came from social media. Requests for various types of vegetables from friends also came.
"Due to the increase in orders, I temporarily closed my tea shop in Garut, and used the kiosk to store vegetables. The vegetables were then delivered to customers, mostly around Garut," said Dasep who is also the owner of Mooi Tea House, a tea shop that uses community tea plantations.
Now there are 15 farmers who have joined the Garut Fresh vegetable business. The commodities range from bitter melon, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, curly chilies, to tomatoes.
DOKUMENTASI TANAMAN OBAT CIMENYAN
A number of local farmers in parts of West Java, sell their crops through social media. They provide free delivery service. Consumers also just waiting for orders at home.
Even though the business is organized by local farmers, Dasep guarantees that everything is well managed. In the garden, for example, farmers are accustomed to wearing a mask, head coverings, and protecting gloves. All is done for the health of food and farmers themselves.
All equipment is used to protect them from inhaling the residual pesticides in the plants, as well as to ward off the cold mountain air. Gloves are also used to protect farmers\' hands from friction and microbes in the soil.
To attract consumers, they also made an innovation. There is a bonus for the buyers. For every vegetable order of at least Rp 50,000, for example, consumers will get a bonus of 200 grams of green chili.
"This method seems to attract many buyers and orders can reach between 70 and 100 orders per day. On the average, 50 kilograms of vegetables are sold per day, "he said last week.
A group of young people in the villages of Mekarmanik and Cikadut, Bandung regency, are doing the same thing. Joining the Cimenyan Medicinal Plants (Taoci) agricultural group, they help the marketing of local farmers\' products. Each package is sold for Rp 100,000.
Each package contains 200 grams of fresh moringa leaves, half a kilogram of carrots, 800 grams of broccoli, 1 kg of tomatoes, and 150 grams of chili. There are also 200 grams of beans, 250 grams of red and white onions, and 1 kg of eggplant. All vegetables are packaged nicely using a cloth bag that can be used repeatedly.
Taoci volunteer, Abdul Hamid (25), confirmed that the vegetables received by consumers were all fresh. Moringa leaves, for example, are picked from the garden several hours before delivery to consumers.
"We are helping 20 farmers. There are stocks of 10-20 kg per commodity per day for 20 packages per day, "he said.
Ready to cook
Another innovation is also made by horticultural farmers from Purwakarta, West Java. Ananda Dwi Septian (25), along with 20 other young farmers, also made an innovation in the midst of the pandemic. In addition to packing vegetables in neat wrappers, he also sells ready-to-cook vegetable packages, such as vegetable soup, tamarind vegetables, and capcai vegetables. He has sold ready to cook vegetable packages since March 25, 2020. Each package is sold between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000.
"We find buyers through social media. At least 7-15 buyers a day order via WhatsApp. The buyers are mostly the residents in downtown Purwakarta," he said.
Such an innovation can help meet the need of the consumers amid the COVID-19 outbreak which has hit many regions in Indonesia.
With neat packaging, freshness and cleanliness, in addition to easy booking, the ready-to-cook vegetable packages become more popular. Such an innovation can help meet the need of the consumers amid the COVID-19 outbreak which has hit many regions in Indonesia.
Kompas
Dasep Badrusalam, a famer in Garut Regency, West Java.
"Consumers don\'t need to go to markets or supermarkets. We deliver to the door of the consumers. The freshness of the vegetables is guaranteed because it is directly picked from the garden. The supply capacity is between 5 and 10 kg per commodity, "he said.
However, despite the promising business, they have been worried lately. They are worried as many people from Jakarta, the epicenter of the COVID-19, will return home for Ramadan and Idul Fitri. They fear they will spread the disease in the villages.
The number is still relatively small if compared to those during the peak of the annual exodus which reached 3.8 million people.
Based on data from the West Java provincial government, the number of travelers who return to their home towns for Ramadan and Idul Fitri in West Java had reached 214,000 as of March. The number is still relatively small if compared to those during the peak of the annual exodus which reached 3.8 million people. But despite being small in number, they bring a high risk in the middle of the pandemic.
"I hope that they would not go home this year. If they force themselves to go home and unknowingly bring a virus, all people will be in trouble. If the farmers are sick, who want to grow vegetables and other food ingredients, "said Ananda.
In the midst of limitations, innovation continues to grow. However, creativity alone is not enough. It needs the support of many people to make it happen.
