Farmers in a number of villages in Parigi Moutong regency, Central Sulawesi, are currently entering the season for dragonfruit and rambutan.
Nyoman Artana, a resident of Suli Village, Sausu Sub-district, on Tuesday said the dragon fruit and rambutan fruit harvest in the area is quite good and is greeted with a cheerful price in the market that is beneficial to the local farmers.
The same thing was also conveyed by Putu, a farmer from Tolai Village, Parigi Moutong, who mentioned the new dragon fruit began to develop Parigi Moutong farmers in the last two years but the results are quite satisfactory given the high price in the market.
Putu said the purchase price of direct traders to the farmers amounted to Rp 20,000 (USD 1.40) per kg for dragon fruit and Rp 5,000 (USD 0.35) per kg for rambutan.
Regent of Parigi Moutong, Zamsurisal Tombolotutu, said the local government continues to encourage diversification of commodities to improve the welfare of farmers.
“But do not change the functioning of existing rice field area and so far has sustained the peasant economy in Parigi Moutong regency,” he said.
He admitted Parigi Moutong farmers are quite enthusiastic to develop dragon fruit because the market share is quite good and marketed to the capital city of Palu.
Source: Antara News