Langsa, Ekuatorial – At least 25 villagers of Aceh Tamiang district will be learning theories and practices about agriculture in Babo village, Bandar Pusaka sub-district, at the Field School for the first time, said the coordinator of the event, recently.
Different from conventional learning, Field School will be teaching eco-friendly agriculture, including on how to plant using Intensification Rice System and more sustainable pesticide. “The most important thing about School Field is observation,” said Andri Priwanda, coordinator Babo School Field and volunteer for Sheep Indonesia Foundation.
Petrus, project manager of Sheep Indonesia Foundation, said that School Field was developed because of the notion that paddy was not beneficial as livelihood, mere for daily lives. “Villagers are still farming in old ways. Most of them only taught to use chemical pesticides,” said Petrus adding that villagers have little knowledge about variety of paddies.
He said that the school was intended to increase productivity and encourage farmers to plant paddy, not only for their consumption but as livelihood. “The School Field is a process to convince farmers with ways and methods beneficial for them and the environment,” he said.
Andri said main principal for School Field was not to use any chemical pesticides. “School Field apply organic agriculture so its fertilizer would also be organic,” he added. Ivo Lestari