Semarang City in Central Java, Indonesia, is now home to the heaviest recorded melon in the country, weighing in at 5.8 kg. This impressive melon was harvested from the Laguna Green House, situated in the Graha Padma Semarang housing complex.
The World Indonesian Achievement Institute (Leprid) officially acknowledged this accomplishment, designating the melon as the record-holder for the heaviest in Indonesia. The recognition was conferred upon Laguna Green House PT Tani Makmur Bareng, with acknowledgment given to Main Director Stefanus Angga Santoso and Operational Director Arvin Wijaya. This is reported by Inews.
Expressing appreciation for PT Tani Makmur Bareng's success, General Chairman and Founder of Leprid, Paulus Pangka, noted the significance of cultivating a melon weighing 5.8 kg, surpassing the previous record of around 4.26 kg in Indonesia.
Pangka attributed this achievement to the use of modern and computerized systems in melon cultivation at the Laguna Green House. He emphasized the importance of this accomplishment in the realm of Indonesian agriculture and commended the farm for its management by a team of young, forward-thinking individuals who aim to contribute to the advancement of Indonesian agriculture.
"Moreover, this farm is run by young people who have the spirit to develop a more advanced world of Indonesian agriculture. Hopefully, this record can be an inspiration that will make Indonesia proud and inspire the world," Pangka said.
Operations Director Arvin Wijaya of PT Tani Makmur Bareng shared insights into their successful cultivation techniques, explaining that the farm employs hydroponic methods to cultivate melons, specifically with the Hamigua variety. Hydroponic techniques, a soilless cultivation method, allow for precise nutrient control, contributing to optimal growth conditions and increased harvest yields.
The achievement of cultivating the heaviest melon in Indonesia stands as a noteworthy milestone for the Laguna Green House and PT Tani Makmur Bareng. This accomplishment not only highlights the dedication of the farm's management but also serves as an example of innovative and effective agricultural practices in Indonesia.
Leprid
Laguna Green House was started by a young entrepreneur named Stefanus Rangga Santoso, who has experience in doing business since he was 16 years old while studying at high school. Started as a Property Marketing agent in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. When he turned 19 years old, he became a property marketing agent in Singapore. And finally, after graduating from college, he got an offer from a partner to develop a housing complex in Indonesia. But then he refused to continue the business in the property sector. He had a change of heart in doing business from the property sector to the agriculture business since he went back to Indonesia and saw a lot of problems in the Agriculture sector that could be solved.
In 2015, he started with onions and chilly conventional farms with renewed irrigation technology, and in 2017, he built the first high-tech smart greenhouse located in Kudus, Central Java. It is the first formal company named CV. Santoso Agro that he created. The company struggled at first cause of a lack of competence in terms of workers. But it didn't stop him from looking for knowledge and educating the workers. Until the end of the year 2019, the company started to make a profit. Since he noticed that the main problem in the agriculture sector was a lack of competition in terms of manpower, in 2021, he initiated the building of another firm named PT Tani Makmur Bareng, located in Semarang city, which does agriculture business inside a greenhouse and also establishing a training center for whom wants to look for competency specifically for cultivating melon crop inside a greenhouse.