Drinking coffee is a trend which is not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The trend which has been existing for decades in the society of West Kalimantan, is not only be able to do at homes by the old generation, but has also penetrated to coffee shops and even cafes as well as restaurants for young people to enjoy.
This is also happening with coffee farmers in Podurukun Village, Seponti District, Kayong Utara Regency. The coffee plantations owned by the farmers in this village are not affected by the pandemic at all. As a matter of fact, the sales tend to increase every year.
For information, Podorukun Village is one of the developed villages and has become a food producer in Kayong Utara Regency, West Kalimantan. The farmers in this village have been growing coffee for more than 20 years.
One of the coffee farmers of Podorukun Village, Srianto revealed, coffee initially got into Podorukun in around 1997. However, those years, coffee never failed to sell even though it was sold at IDR 1,500 per kilogram.
Finally, with the support of one of the people in Podorukun who was able to penetrate the Market of Sambas, with sales figures of 5-10 tons, the coffee from Podorukun was slowly gaining popularity.
“I myself had only one hectare (of coffee) at that time. My neighbor’s has now been passed on by his neighbor,” said Srianto, at the Podorukun Village Office, last Friday (6/11).
This middle-aged man who is also a member of the Cahaya Kayong Farmer’s Group (Poktan) stated that the coffee development existing now is Liberika coffee. Prior to the massive development of Liberika coffee, the farmers in Podorukun initially met Iwan, an owner of Kojal Coffee in Pontianak.
Iwan is a supplier of Podorukun Liberika coffee and up to now the demand is still there. In addition to being used for his coffee shop business, Iwan is also a partner of the coffee farmers to introduce Liberika to other areas.
According to Srianto, Podorukun Liberika coffee, was once exhibited by Iwan Kojal with members of the House of Representatives to Malaysia. After that, Malaysia asked whether or not the farmers could meet the demand for 30 tons per month. Unfortunately, the coffee farmers in Podorukun could not meet this demand.
“Here the difficulty was post-harvest time since they had a quite wide land, but a lot of the land was abandoned. There were also some other hectares which no longer had any production, “he said.
Besides being exhibited in the neighboring country, the most proud thing for Podorukun farmers was August 14, which was designated as the Coffee Day of Kayong Utara. The determination was initiated by the Regent of Kayong Utara, Citra Duani. It was known, the implementation of coffee day initially took place in Podorukun Village, Seponti District.
“We hope that Liberica coffee from Podorukun Village can become an icon. Therefore yesterday, when the Plantation Department of Kayong Utara Regency wanted to assist, which seemed to ask for being accepted, then I returned it back. If I accept it, coffee lovers have started to decrease,” explained Srianto.
“In fact, I also have a mission, from Cahaya Kayong group so that we have an icon. In the future, after these coffee seeds are popular, patented, Podorukun will have recognizable superior coffee seeds. We are afraid that there will be a superior seed, appearing at the same time, fighting over names, and becoming a conflict. We try to avoid that, “he added.
Meanwhile, Feri, a young Podorukun farmer said that he is an heir. He lived and grew from coffee.
“I am an heir. Consider that I grew up from coffee, from the year 94. My college tuition fees are also coming from coffee. Our lives are from coffee. It happened that the third developer was my parents. At that time, my parents were the collectors,” said the youth who is also a village secretary.
Feri revealed that the Cahaya Kayong Poktan was indeed the result of Iwan Kojal assistance. Therefore, his fellow youth partners who became heirs and he formed their own farmer group called Mitra Kopi.
“We, from the village, are grateful. With the support of the fellow media, all kinds of people who came to Podorukun, the name Podorukun Liberika coffee can be known, “he said.
“I keep saying that I don’t want to release a product. Just let the existing product run like Mrs. Lika (owner of Lika Coffee). It is now how Mrs. Lika recruits many people, “he added.
Feri, with the other youth, wishes to focus on quality improvement, such as maintenance, land adding, as well as farmer encouragement.
Hence, he wants a media to accommodate. This is because, according to Feri, people are currently still enthusiastic to grow coffee, talk about coffee, and even drink coffee.
“The farmers’ issues are who will collect our yields, who will buy it, saleable or not, and what is the price?” said Feri.
Feri expressed some expectations representing the village government and farmers in his village.
“My hope is for the local departments, we want to determine what variety is our Liberika or how many descendants or how many (descendants) does F,” he mentioned.
“Secondly, why we form a young group. To us, frankly, we cannot force people to plant a particular thing. We can only suggest that the farmers add new crops in the village, find new land. Do not clear the existing land, replace new plants. I mean, the community can be consistent in terms of planting, “he concluded. (shella)
Source:
Published on the page www.suarapemredkalbar.com with the title Pesona Kopi Liberika Podorukun, Hasil Kopi Dikenalkan hingga ke Negeri Jiran