Magnet for the Unemployed

Sadikul Kasdi sows the seeds of fruits that people throw away and then makes money from selling the plant seedlings. The business grows and becomes a magnet for the unemployed young people in Terong Tawah Hamlet.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Sadikul Kasdi

Limited job opportunities did not make Sadikul Kasdi, 30, give up. He sows the seeds of fruits that people throw away and then makes money from selling the plant seedlings. The business grows and later becomes a magnet for the unemployed young people in Terong Tawah hamlet, West Lombok.

Terong Tawah hamlet, which is part of Terong Tawah village, Labuapi district, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, is a fertile hamlet. The hamlet has irrigation which runs through the rice fields throughout the year. However, most of the rice fields there are owned by a few wealthy people.

Most residents who do not have rice fields work as farm laborers, construction workers or traders. Aside from that, some are unemployed, especially young people who do not have the skills to enter the workforce. The high level of unemployment triggers social problems. The unemployed young people are often involved in brawls between villages.

Sadikul was also unemployed before. After graduating from the Pancasila and Citizenship teaching program at Muhammadiyah University in Mataram, he did not get a job. But he did not want to get defeated by the condition. Therefore, he tried to see business opportunities in the village.

He did not want to get defeated by the condition.

"I happen to have a hobby of growing plants. Anything. I see many fruit seeds just being thrown away. I think the seeds can make money," Sadikul said Tuesday (24/12/2019) at the nursery of his fruit plants in Terong Tawah hamlet.

He also collected fruit seeds that were thrown away by residents in his village or thrown away by his parents. "My father sells fruits in the market. If I am offered to taste a rambutan, I collect the seeds. I put them in a pot or polybag. After the seeds grow, many friends come to buy them," said Sadikul, who learned the seeding techniques as an autodidact.

In 2010, he seriously developed the plant nursery business. In addition to selling seedlings grown from seeds, he also sells seedlings from grafting. Slowly but surely, the business grew under the Seedcool trademark. The seeds he produces consist of seedlings of rambutan, durian, longan, sugar apple, guava, watery rose apple, jackfruit, java plum, starfruit, grape and several types of oranges.

He sold plant seedlings from Rp 50,000 to Rp 2 million per stem to the markets in Lombok and Sumbawa islands. From there, he can earn a gross income of Rp 15 million a month and buy land of 56.5 acres or around 5,650 square meters. Now, he also develops various flower plant seeds.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Sadikul Kasdi

Embrace the unemployed

After the business developed, Sadikul embraced the unemployed young people in his village.

Actually, from the beginning he wanted to involve his friends. But generally the people there will only do something if someone has already started it. The local saying is “Lamun ndek man gita’ hasil ne ndek man nyadu” (Don\'t believe before seeing the results clearly).

Sadikul said people must be creative in seeing the business opportunities around them. He also motivated the young people to not wait for work opportunities, but rather to create their own jobs. From there, he could convince about 20 young people in his village to be involved in this business. Those who have cell phones are asked to promote and sell plant seed products through social media. If they bring in a buyer, Sadi-kul will give a service fee of 5-10 percent of the total selling price of the product.

There are also those who are embraced as permanent workers with a daily wage of Rp 80,000 per person plus lunch. They do not only work, but are also encouraged to learn to manage the business of selling seedlings. He, for example, told the young people he had recruited as workers to ensure that the seedlings sold to buyers would produce fruit.

"So, I have to explain the techniques of planting and caring so that the plants will grow well and consumers will enjoy the results," he said.

Sadikul also teaches his employees to provide guarantees to consumers that the seedlings will grow in three months. To reduce the potential for failure, he and his five workers usually help the buyers with everything for planting the seeds. Sadikul and his workers help in digging and determining the depth of the hole, planting the seedlings and mixing soil consisting of loose soil, compost natural fertilizer and animal dung.

KOMPAS/KHAERUL ANWAR

Sadikul Kasdi

Ups and downs

Although it has been planned in such a way, Seedcool\'s business journey is not always smooth. He had failed to plant 15 durian seeds. The durian seedlings did not grow well or died. He also lost money over guarantees to buyers. Later there were failures in the planting techniques, so he devised more effective planting techniques.

Sadikul once lost tens of millions of rupiah because the seedlings that he delivered to a buyer in Bali did not meet the customer’s standard. "He [the businessman in Bali] said that he would pay a certain price. If I did not want to accept, I can bring the seedlings back," Sadikul recalled.

In fact, thousands of seedlings of various fruit plants have already been transported by truck from Lombok to Bali at very high costs. "If I have to bring them home I would have to spend extra money for the cost of the truck. Finally, I sold the seeds at a price below the standard," he said. The bad experiences in developing the business taught Sadikul and the young people who participated in managing the business. From there, they can improve ways of doing business.

"The most memorable thing for me is that this business can become a magnet for dozens of young people who do not have jobs, so we can share our fortune with them," Sadikul said.

Sadikul Kasdi

Born: West Lombok, 17 March 1989,

Wife: Iftitahul Jannah (26)

Children: Arhamarrifki (3), Ikrima Arham (less than a month old)

Education:

- SDN 1 Terong Tawah (graduated in 2000) - SMPN Labuapi (2003)

- SMKN 5 Mataram majoring in furniture, graduated in 2006

- Undergraduate in Pancasila and Citizenship teaching program from

Muhammadiyah University in Mataram (2016)