One of the new directions of our company are the optimum use of the land around our lodges, especially at Kelimutu (over 3 ha available), Satwa (1.5 ha available) and Mbeliling (2 ha available), to produce organic food for our guests and staff. At Kelimutu and Mbeliling, there is water all year round thus giving the possibility of production all year round. During this process, we wish to work with the smallholder farmers of the area developing systems where their labor is rewarded with income or kind in food. Our main constraint is finding a suitable person in each location to supervise this development, and also a consultant who can advise us on suitable smallholder farming techniques.
Rice paddies opposite our office and Fish pond at Kelimutu
We have developed a small cost center called AGRICULTURE and any income from production is deposited into this account. Thus far we have one employee-funded at Kelimutu (Pak Hendrik). At Kelimutu, we have already obtained some produce from fish ponds, rice paddies, cloves, pawpaws, coffee and many vegetables including peppers, tomatoes, and spinach. At Mbeliling, we have concentrated on pineapples but have yet to harvest any. However, all these have used labor-intensive techniques and our methods need to be reviewed and greatly improved eg we have at least 12 types of fruit or income-producing tree at Kelimutu and could have cattle, poultry, and pig production systems in conjunction with more extensive fish production systems.
Vegetables planted by hand by Pak Hendrik on our new land at Kelimutu
