An initiative by Field School members has caused the level of manure piling up in Kemiri Village to reduce drastically and the fertility of plants cultivated there to increase sharply

Malang. One afternoon, Sutamah, 37, a resident of Mrasih Hamlet, Kemiri Village, Mojokerto, East Java, said happily, “Now the fertilizer and agricultural chemical sellers are reluctant to try to sell their products to the residents of Mrasih. We don’t need their products anymore because we make our own fertilizer.”

This all started with the Field School in Kemiri Village in August 2007. At that time, 30 villagers, including Sutamah, determined that the biggest problem facing their village was the dung and urine from their livestock that was polluting their living environment. There are 188 families living in Dusun Mrasih, of which 55 own a total of 8 cattle that are used to plow their rice fields. These cattle produce a quintal of manure every day. This cattle manure was previously dumped directly into the Pikatan River that passes through Kemiri toward Dusun Nono, located below Mrasih.

Through a number of discussions, the Field School members sought ways to turn the manure into something beneficial, including organic fertilizer and natural pesticide.

“Since we have found out how easy and inexpensive it is to make fertilizer and pesticide from dung, we no longer have to worry about shortages of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on the market. All this time we have been faced with confusion when those products went missing from the market, pushing prices up,” said Sulyo, 41, Sutamah’s husband.

Sulyo is delighted that his wife is active at the Field School. “I have also learned how to make natural pesticides.” For the past year, the Sulyo family has proven the effectiveness of the natural pesticides they make themselves. “Just imagine, dragonflies, caterpillars, and mites no longer bother our crops. So the texture and look of our onions, radishes and string beans are now better than ever,” Sulyo said, a happy, enthusiastic smile on his face. They create their natural pesticide from the leaves and branches of the Paitan (Tithonia diverfolia) plant and cattle urine.

Murgianto, 45, a neighbor of Sulyo and Sutamah, was just as effusive about the benefit of organic fertilizer. He compared the results of chili crops fertilized with dung and those fertilized with chemicals. The chilies fertilized with organic fertilizer grew healthily and as high as two meters, and bear fruit for a full six months without having to be fertilized again.
“The chilies that I fertilized with chemicals only grew to about one-and-a half meters high, and had to be fertilized again every two months so that they would flower again,” Murgianto added.

After observing the success of Murgianto and Sutamah, other Kemiri residents have begun learning how to make fertilizer from cattle manure. The method is simple; the dung is mixed with a “starter” of microbes and fungus from spoiled fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, tomatoes, papayas, sour-sop and avocados that are widely available in the village. For a period of three weeks, this mixture is left in gunny sacks in a cool place. After being aired out and dried for a day, the fertilizer is then ready to use.

The villagers are very well aware that the organic fertilizer produced makes their crops much more fertile. “In my opinion, only stupid, lazy people would refuse to use organic fertilizer and natural pesticides,” Sutamah said with conviction.

Bintoro W. Prabowo & Christina H. Putri, East Java ESP