Training of Young Farmers for Agricultural Sector Development

Young farmer training for millennial farmers is an important part at the moment. For that, young farmer training plays an important role in agricultural sector. To continue developing agricultural sector, it is necessary support from advanced, modern and independent human resources.

According to Head of BPPSDMP (Agricultural HR Extension and Development Agency), the number of Indonesian farmers in 2020 is around 33 million people. Of this number, about 29% of farmers are below 40 years of age or labelled as millennial farmers.

Factors that influence productivity include technological innovation, agricultural facilities and infrastructure, as well as regulatory policies such as local wisdom, each with a contribution of 25%. The most influence factor is human resources with a contribution of up to 50% on productivity.

Output of the vocational education

The output of the vocational education is qualified job creator and job seeker. Qualified job creators mean independent farmers, so they are able to open up job opportunities for their colleagues. Vocational education really expects these farmers. Meanwhile, qualified job seekers are young farmers who are skilled and master the job and willing to be placed in all industrial and agricultural sectors.

The Meaning of Young Farmer Training

Young farmers are farmers with range of age of 19-39 years. Young farmer training means training for young farmers who are believed to raise wellfare of farmers in the nation. In this discussion, Yayasan Agri Sustineri Indonesia (YASI) tries to explain on keyword “young” for those of you who need to understand what is meant by young farmers.

The meaning of young is a demographic group, that is, without definite time limit for start or end of the group. In fact, characteristics of youth, especially in Indonesia, can be different, depending on region, social or economic conditions. However, the criteria of that generation are generally characterized by an intensify use of communication, digital technology, and media.

The purpose and role of the young generation in agricultural sector

The government is starting to encourage young farmers, because they are considered to be able to improve the nation’s economy. The program has primary goal which is development of young agricultural entrepreneurship in Indonesia. Of course, the role of young farmers in agricultural sector is important, because they are adaptive in understanding concept of digital technology and flexible in identifying and verifying technology.

Based on that, Ministry of Agriculture in Indonesia has a target of 1 million millennial farmers who are members of 40 thousand groups in each region and each group consist of 20-30 people. In order to make young farmers program successful, preparation and socialization are needed. Monitoring and evaluation will be carried out to develop and intensify young farmers. Not only that, support for agricultural sector facilities and infrastructure are also provided by the Ministry of Agriculture. The young farmer program will also be synchronized with other programs such as SERASI (government program).

Examples of Young Farmers' Success

One example of young farmer program that have been running well is in Tasikmalaya area. Approximately 15 thousand students from all parts of Indonesia participate training for young farmers, aiming that they will be able to apply modern agricultural business practices from upstream to downstream.

The Minister of Agriculture stated that the activity “Launching Santri Tani Millennials” was one of serious efforts of Ministry of Agriculture in agriculture sector regeneration. This event is important, considering that future food needs will increase along with population growth, on the other hand agricultural sector workers have decreased and consist only senior farmers.

Examples of Successful Young Farmers

The following are some successful young farmers in carrying out activities in agricultural sector that are suitable to be role models in realizing young farmer activity, data taken from Pancer Tani Program of Yayasan Agri Sustineri Indonesia.

1. Tohir’s Success Story – Pancer Tani Partner Lampung Area Prior to joining Pancer Tani, Tohir was a conventional farmer who cultivated horticulture and paddy to meet his daily needs. After joining Pancer Tani he is able to provide quality horticultural nurseries in large quantities, and is even able to provide horticultural seeds for farmers in sub-districts of Kalianda, Palas, Penengahan, Candipuro up to Katibung. All of his efforts and business are well known among farmers. The changes in his life were very significant starting from income, developing other agriculture businesses such as buying and selling. He was able to build a permanent house and on social impact he employed his relatives and neighbors in nursery production in terms of seed production and distribution.
2. Wahid Sahroni’s Success Story – Pancer Tani Partner Lampung area Prior to joining Pancer Tani program, Wahid Sahroni was labor at a rice factory in Sidomulyo Village, Punggur District, Central Lampung Regency. Then he thought, in order to improve his family’s life, some actions must be taken. He is thinking to start his own business. He wanted to do rice planting services, at that time he did not have sufficient initial capital. Then YASI through Pancer Tani Program helped him to get financial support through donors so he could use the fund to buy a rice transplanter machine. After joining, his income increased significantly and he got closer to his dream of providing a better life for his family.
3. Success Story of Muhammad Yusuf Khoirul Hakim – Pancer Tani Partner Salim Agro Sentosa Yusuf, a 28-year-old young entrepreneur, has successfully developed a horticultural nursery business by following the Pancer Tani SOP. Now he is able to produce up to 150,000 seedlings per month and uses the e-Farmer Hub application to monitor his business.
4. The Success Story of Lambang Wasesa – Citrus Fruit Organic Fertilizer Production Lambang started an organic fertilizer business with the aim of improving soil quality. After joining Pancer Tani, his business grew rapidly with the support of capital, market access, and promotion.
5. Success Story of Arif Yulianto – Pancer Tani Partner in Malang Area As a single parent, Arif has successfully developed a red onion trading business by utilizing local potential. His business not only provides a better life for his family but also opens up employment opportunities for local residents.

The government hopes that more young Indonesians are willing to join agricultural sector in order to further advance the Indonesian agricultural sector. If the regeneration of farmers can run smoothly and productivity is increasing then the productivity of agricultural products also increases.

Are you interested to be one of the successful farmers? Yayasan Agri Sustineri Indonesia (YASI) helps farmers to be more prosperous by increasing farmers’ income. More than 135,000 farmers have been aggregated and benefitted from the YASI program. The success stories of young farmers above are expected to be an inspiration for the young generation not to underestimate profession as farmer.