YDBA with Sayurbox Invites Young People to Farm

Previously, the modern agriculture webinar was held by YDBA on April 6, 2021. This webinar was packaged in the YDBA MSME Virtual Exploration with Sayurbox with the theme “It’s Time for Young People to Dare to Farm”.

Dharma Bhakti Astra Foundation (YDBA) held a webinar on modern agriculture for the second time this year on Monday (21/6/2021).

This is done to add insight in the development of promising agricultural businesses and to motivate the younger generation to be involved in becoming farmers or businessmen in the agricultural sector.

YDBA presented 2 speakers, namely CEO & Co-Founder of Sayurbox, Amanda Susanti and Chairman of the Association of Farmers (Gapoktan) Kayuh Baimbai who is also YDBA fostered farmers in Tapin, South Kalimantan.

In this Virtual Tour which was attended by various groups, such as students, MSMEs and private employees, Amanda Susanti shared her experience of how she founded Sayurbox in 2017 and succeeded in empowering 800 farmers who supply their products to Sayurbox.

Amanda also shared stories about the development of the Sayurbox business during the pandemic, where the public’s habit of shopping online has an impact on increasing orders at Sayurbox.

Launch Local Heroes Program for Young Generation

To support the younger generation to be involved in their business, Amanda also conveyed about the local heroes program that can be optimized by the younger generation who want to develop the agricultural sector in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, in this Virtual Tour, Misrani told how Misrani carried out her role for 12 years as a farmer until Misrani was trusted to be the Chair of the Baimbai Paddle Gapoktan in Tapin, South Kalimantan which has more than 130 members.

Misrani also told about the involvement of the younger generation in the development of the agricultural sector in Baimbai Paddle, at least 80% of the members are young people aged 17-35 years.

Gapoktan Paddle Bambai itself has a Self-help Rural Agricultural Training Center (P4S) which can be optimized for young people to learn to farm.

On this occasion, Misrani also showed virtually the condition of the agriculture that Misrani cultivated and the young generation involved.

As for the agricultural commodities that are cultivated, such as large red chilies, cayenne pepper, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, long beans, sweet corn and others.

To attract visitors who come to the farm to study or buy their cultivation, Misrani also shows the Silusia flower plant which can be used by visitors as a photo spot on his agricultural land.

In this Virtual Tour, the Chairperson of YDBA Management Sigit P. Kumala, Secretary of YDBA Management Ida R. M. Sigalingging, Treasurer of YDBA Management Handoko Pranoto and YDBA Advisor Tonny Sumartono were also present.

In his opening remarks, Sigit P. Kumala said that the modern agriculture webinar which was packaged in the YDBA MSME Virtual Exploration in collaboration with Sayurbox was carried out as a step by YDBA to invite the younger generation to develop agriculture in Indonesia.

Agricultural Startups are Growing during the Covid-19 Pandemic

According to Bintang Angkasa, Communications Manager of Sayurbox, from January to May 2021 alone, the demand for vegetables and similar products increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2020. This result is inseparable from the efforts that this pioneering business has carried out since the coronavirus pandemic took place.

For example, in addition to selling online through its own platform, Sayurbox also uses the marketplace to expand the market’s reach, such as through Tokopedia, Shopee, JDid, Blibli, Alfacart, as well as Grabmart and Gomart.

In terms of products, apart from vegetables, Sayurbox also provides fruits, various meats, seafood, and other products.

To maintain the existence of this startup that has been operating since 2017, Sayurbox seeks to strengthen the agricultural business line, from upstream to downstream. The goal is to make the products sold by Sayurbox become the choice of consumers.

Downstream, Sayurbox opens opportunities for young people in the area to farm. Then, they can sell the results from farming to Sayurbox.