Improving the shallot and hot pepper cultivation system in the coastal plain of Northern Java

This report aims to improve cultivation and to enhance farmers' income in the Brebes region of Northern Java. First, a brief description of vegetable cultivation in the Brebes region is given. Also profits of vegetable cultivation are discussed and bottlenecks in the current cultivation system. In shallot and hot pepper cultivation a main constraint is the alternating change in land use. With rice cultivation the land is levelled and flooded and with vegetable cultivation raised beds are made. As a result problems are present with soil fertility, hence high fertilizer rates are applied and poor crop growth is present. Another constraint is the small field size per farm, where only at a few days a year harvest takes place. As a result individual farmers are not able to supply year round large quantities and therefore are unable to make arrangements with traders. In case farmers can organize themselves as a group they can produce year round a good quantity making it interesting for traders to make arrangements with this farmers’ group. Based on the conclusions it is proposed to start up activities to address the following topics: - Permanent vegetable crop cultivation system. - Year round supply of product and direct linking to a market