As one of the key areas related to national sovereignty, the agricultural sector is currently facing several challenges.
One of these challenges is the limited involvement of young people, while the older generation, which dominates the sector, is no longer in productive age.
Professor Subejo of the UGM Faculty of Agriculture stated that one key factor in addressing the human resource limitations in agriculture is the development of excellent human resources and institutions.
Young people are seen as the solution to these challenges as the agricultural workforce ages and becomes less adaptive.
“The implication of this dominance of older farmers is twofold; on the one hand, it is a concern, but on the other hand, it opens new opportunities,” Professor Subejo said during a webinar titled “Youth Unite, Agriculture Advances” on Saturday (Oct. 26).
He emphasized that the agricultural sector must be filled with young people who must be facilitated and developed.
Additionally, the government should encourage a green revolution for food crops and agroforestry, a blue revolution for the development of the fisheries and marine sector, and a white revolution for the livestock sector.
Professor Subejo further noted that young people need to be involved in the agricultural agenda because they have broader knowledge and perspectives, a positive attitude, access to information, and the ability to build networks.
Young people are seen as capable of providing added value by focusing on commodities and offering agricultural experiences.
Offering unique and memorable agricultural experiences, such as coffee harvesting or fruit picking tours, for example, can command a price far higher than simply selling the commodities.
“This creative effort is closely linked to the role of young people,” he explained.
He also encouraged the use of cyber extension to train farmers, complementing traditional extension efforts more quickly through IT.
“If we push for this, the benefits will be significant, for example, with the DESA (Digital Extension Society for Agriculture) app,” he added.
However, he stressed the importance of strengthening agricultural institutions to mobilize farmers with diverse approaches tailored to each region’s problems and potential.
“For example, as we did at UGM, we collaborated on a seedless watermelon development program in Sleman, which increased productivity to 30 tons per week,” he noted.
Professor Subejo views innovation as crucial to utilizing local resources and adding value. This innovation can be carried out with local business groups such as women’s farming groups (KWT), cooperatives, or auction markets, which enable healthy negotiations between farmers and intermediaries or buyers.
“Youth regeneration and institutional revitalization are essential. Young people have great potential to bring Indonesian agriculture forward,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Tumpal Gultom, a millennial farmer from Gunungkidul Regency, shared his story about entering the agricultural field. Starting from a hobby of gardening at home in 2020 with minimal capital and a small scale, he documented his activities on YouTube.
The public’s enthusiasm encouraged his growth. Gultom then developed an educational garden for experimentation and exploration, practicing various planting methods such as hydroponics, aquaponics, organic farming, integrated farming, and maggot farming.
Now, Gultom has an Instagram account with over 600,000 followers, where he shares his farming activities.
Additionally, he began to meet vegetable supply demands by setting up a hydroponic vegetable production garden.
He also developed a prototype aquaponic garden, growing water spinach, chili, melon, and eggplant. These crops were grown above ponds containing catfish, pomfret, and tilapia, and the pond’s wastewater was used to fertilize the plants.
Today, his hydroponic farm produces 15–20 kg of lettuce daily. For Gultom, the agricultural business holds vast potential.
“Agricultural products will always be needed as the population and food demands increase, but the number of farmers continues to decline,” Gultom said.
Gultom finds farming easy to manage with the help of technology, social media, and digitalization. Regarding challenges farmers often face, such as capital, he believes that social media income can address financial, knowledge, and land challenges.
Other issues, like low selling prices, Are dealt with by Gultom by avoiding simultaneous planting and harvesting and instead planting and harvesting daily.
This ensures higher selling prices, allowing him to cover the high costs of fertilizers and operations. He has even become independent of government assistance.
“Young farmers today not only grow and harvest vegetables, but they can also provide services such as setting up aquaponic systems, selling agricultural education, offering agricultural tourism, and creating monetizable content on social media,” he explained.
Gultom encouraged young people to continue developing their creativity. He has experienced the benefits of using social media, which has helped with personal branding, customer trust through transparent production processes, and easier promotion without the need for intermediaries.
“We have gained many connections and relationships through social media, even with the Ministry of Agriculture. You don’t need a relative working there,” he noted.
Gultom hopes that young people will increasingly embrace modern farming, integrated with the use of social media, as it is a suitable endeavor for today’s generation.
Author: Bolivia
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photo: Freepik
Post-editor: Afif