John Doe

08 September 2024 03:01

Field School Revives the Entrepreneurial Spirit of KWT Madusari

The presence of Sekolah Lapang is a new enlightenment that revives the entrepreneurial spirit of KWT Madusari in Lamongan. With its innovative methods and in-depth approach, the Field School emerged as a key pillar in developing the business potential and entrepreneurial spirit of this community.

The Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, has always echoed the spirit that prosperous agriculture starts from the villages. For him, every success in rural areas is the hard work of all parties in the agricultural community. “Strengthening farmers' businesses and improving the capacity of human resources in the villages are the keys to success,” he said.

Great strides have been made in improving farmers' capacity, thanks to cooperation between MOA and IFAD through the 2017-2022 Integrated and Participatory Irrigation Development and Management Project (IPDMIP). Although the project has been completed, its benefits continue to be felt by extension workers and farmers, not only in the villages where the project took place, but also extend to other villages that utilize self-financing sources.

In Maduran Village, Maduran Sub-district, Lamongan District, IPDMIP field instructors and field staff have provided invaluable assistance. One of the most impactful initiatives is the Field School (SL) organized in 2021-2022. For agricultural extension workers, SL is a very effective extension vehicle and a non-formal based learning process that enriches knowledge and skills, while exploring the potential of farmers.

The enthusiasm of farmers in receiving SL materials is very encouraging. SL materials are selected by farmers through dialog, where PPLs provide choices based on previous refresher training from IPDMIP. The materials studied included Improving Nutrition and Income of Farmer Families, Making Liquid Fertilizer, and Organic NPK Fertilizer.

No less enthusiastically, farm women participants in this village who had previously formed a group but whose activities had stalled, revived thanks to the knowledge gained from SL IPDMIP. One of them is the “Madu Sari” Women Farmers Group in Maduran Village.