Mennonite Central Committee

Agricultural students work to revitalize farming in Aceh

Michelle Sensenig
October 31, 2007

ACEH, Indonesia – Farmers, overcome by losses from the tsunami, continue to face an enormous task in reclaiming their land and making it fertile.

After the water receded, the salinity level of the soil skyrocketed. The rice fields were full of debris, had a high salinity and had lost their natural irrigation systems.

Today, through Action Research Program, MCC funding supports students from the agricultural department of Syiah Kuala Univesity in Banda Aceh who are seeking solutions to help area farmers.

“My hope for the future is that post-tsunami farmers can return to their land and continue rice farming,” said Dedi, an agricultural student who is experimenting with rice seeds.

Many farmers, overcome by losses due to the tsunami, are devoting their energies to the tasks of reconstructing homes and meeting immediate needs. While some farmers have been able to clear land, other fields lie empty, with farmers unable to face the costs of reclaiming, clearing and replanting their property.

Dedi began his semester-long study with his colleague, Zulfikar, in a borrowed rice plot outside Banda Aceh. “First, we cleared the field of leftover tsunami debris,” Dedi explains. “Next, we borrowed a tractor to cultivate the soil. Finally, we filled the plot with fresh water for one week to try and decrease the salinity level.”

After the intensive labor was completed, the two young men were eager to try various kinds of rice seeds to discover which ones would grow the best in soil that still contained high salinity levels. They tried several different seed varieties before discovering a rice seed variety that did exceptionally well. Both students are writing about this experiment as their senior thesis.

In Lhoknga, an area in which more than half of the 7,000 community members perished in the tsunami, an MCC-funded Action Research scholarship paved the way for agricultural student Zaizuli to search for methods of fertilizing fields.

Many farmers can’t afford commercial fertilizers or the plastic often used to mulch plants. “We have to find a cheaper means of fertilizer and mulch,” he said.

He, too, borrowed an unused plot of land, cleared tsunami debris and began experimenting with how different fertilizers aided chili peppers planted in the tsunami-affected soil.

He also experimented with several kinds of mulch. “I decided to try using rice straw and rice husks as mulch, instead of plastic,” he explains. “It would be much cheaper for the farmer and better for the environment.”