Young and Successful, IPB Alumni Developed Urban Agricultural Business
Yusep Jalaludin and Muhammad Adhe Putra are anxious teenagers who care about agriculture. To answer the farmers' unrest across the country they established a business unit called City Farm. It is a company in Bogor to develop a commercial-scale operation using hydroponic technology. Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, the method of growing plants without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent. Today’s urban farmers don’t just grow food to eat; they also see urban agriculture as a way of increasing the diversity of plants and animals in the city, bringing people from different backgrounds and age groups together, improving mental and physical health and regenerating derelict neighbourhoods. Urban agriculture can help ease up the problem of food scarcity in centers of population.
Yusep is an alumnus of the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, of the Faculty of Agriculture, of Bogor Agricultural University (FAPERTA IPB). Motivated by a variety of goals ranging from the potential for personal monetary gain, as well as an occasion for much innuendo of one of big company in fresh fruit and fresh vegetables suppliers, he then establish his current business.
"There is an insinuation to me that many of IPB alumni don’t engage in healthy vegetable retailing. To maintain the good reputation of his alma mater, I took offend and awake. On March 2017, when I was in the final year in IPB, I invited my colleagues from IPB, Mr. Adhe Putra and others to develop hydroponic business," he said.
His current business is located in Block G1, Bukit Cimanggu City, Bogor. It is the hydroponic farm business that grows and sells plants, vegetables, and other forms of greenery to businesses and individuals. In addition they also provide mini home hydroponic installation products, hydroponic training, hydroponic materials and media, salad products and hydroponic vegetable juices. They market their products to retail supermarkets, to various cafes and vegetable shops in Bogor as well as for customers who want to come to the farm for the experience and the fresh produce directly at City Farm.
He explained that the knowledge and experiences he obtained while he studied in the university has played important role in shaping his soul to be hard worker and persistence to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
"Soil nutrients, and cultivation of plants, given in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, as well as establishing networks with alumni of IPB who have been successful, he learned while he had practical works in the Sabisa Farm IPB had a big impact on our lives,” he said.
Yusep, an alumnus who had been active in various student organizations, stated that he had discovered passion, perseverance and a positive attitude and self-capacities while he used to be student of IPB. The most important thing is that his soul and his pattern of thinking were formed while he had been student of IPB. As student he used to face various problems they face ranging from assignments, as well as to develop leadership capacity in the organization.
"When I was in the university, I used to be the self-made man. I also found a way to make extra money by selling fruits or something that my fellow students, lecturers, or colleagues in the university needed and couldn't get anywhere else," he said.
Although somewhat new but his business is a successful business with a promising turnover reaches tens of millions per month. With his City Farm team is very open to share experiences and opportunities. In the future they will continue to develop his business and pursue his targets and dreams.
"The target of City Farm future, he planned to produce prime products, then develop of plasma farmers, up to make big dream in developing City Farm to be the modern retail supermarket," he said. (Wied)
