What Our Dryland Produces: 4 Kilograms of Eggplant!

During the rainy season, we have been planting vegetables and shallots in the Darmaji School garden. This time, we harvested around four kilograms of eggplant from last year’s plants, and each of us could take some home to enjoy with our families.

Since we shaped our previously steep dry land learning garden into terraces, stabilised with Vetiver grass, some crops—like eggplants—can continue being productive because they are no longer easily affected by erosion. Seeing this result made me more motivated to apply terracing on my own land at home. We were also given vegetable seeds, and I have started planting them on my family’s land that my classmates and I prepared together. It feels good to practice what we learn at school in our daily lives.

I am very grateful for the farming programme in Darmaji Village. It has helped us learn better ways to farm on dry and sloping land. I hope we can apply regenerative farming more widely, so more families can grow healthy food and fewer children experience malnutrition.

By: Sutiani, Grade 12 Darmaji Student