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Composting to prevent forest fires in West Lampung

Bandar Lampung, Ekuatorial – Instead of land clearing and burning, composting and charcoal can be made as alternatives to increase production but also prevent forest fires, said an official on Wednesday (10/9), in Lampung.

“We have been giving trainings on how to prevent forest fires to farmers in Sukapura village, Sumber Jaya of West Lampung district, through composting and charcoal,” said Dumanika Gultom, coordinator for forest fires at the Lampung Natural Conservation Agency to Ekuatorial.

Gultom said villagers managed to increase the selling price for their coffees made by organic compost. With improved income, he said farmers will be hesitated to land clearing and burning to increase productivity.

Iyan Nurdiansyah, a farmer from Sukapura village, said that the compost was made of animal dung and plantation waste. “Initially, villagers were reluctant for composting but due to frequent socialization on how it will protect the forests and it will bring more income, they were interested and started to shift from chemical fertilizer to organic fertilizer,” said Nurdiansyah.

Furthermore, he said that the coffee production was also increasing after using organic compost since 2010. “We used to produce 12 kilograms of dried coffee but now we can at least produce 15 kilograms of dried coffee,” he said adding it also improved the quality of the coffee. “Japan banned coffee from Indonesia because of high chemical ingredient but it is now opening its access after improvements in Lampung coffees.”

However, he said that the market for organic compost hasn’t been fully optimized as they only distribute them for local plantations. Eni Muslihah

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