Case Study: Maskur Sodik

Maskur Sodik - Innovator Farmer
The father of four sons and two daughters, 45-year old Maskur Sodik was originally from Yogjakarta in central Java. He arrived in Riau 14 years ago armed with no more than his hopes and his farming skills, but soon learned that the soil in the region was not suitable for arable farming. Despite this setback, he found ways to cultivate watermelon but then saw two tonnes go to waste through his lack of marketing experience. At this point Maskur signed up for the 15-day IFS training course with APRIL.

In addition to gaining knowledge of land cultivation and crop rotation, Maskur also learned about rearing cattle. After graduating from the course, to get started, APRIL gave him two calves, cattle-feed and medicines. An innovator, Maskur set about experimenting with the feed composition, merging what he had learned about animal feed in Java with the training from the IFS classes. He formulated a new feed concentrate that earned his 300-kg cattle both admiration and the highest bids in the village cattle auction.

When the Community Development (CD) Department learned of Maskur's improved cattle feed, they encouraged him to go into production and helped by providing a grinding machine. Proceeds from the sale of the cattle-feed enabled him to hire staff. His income supported his children's education, including his eldest son's legal studies at a leading university in Yogjakarta.

Inspired by his initial success, Maskur is continuing to improve his products. In collaboration with the CD Department, he is working to extend the feed's shelf life beyond three months and, again, will be sharing his formula with other farmers, believing that the village will only flourish if they work collectively.

Maskur is also looking into eel-breeding and has ideas for more efficient land cultivation to drive faster plant rotation. Again, he intends to share his findings with other farmers, and to present his proposals to the CD Department to seek financial support.