What a Beautiful Divorce
63. Ancient Land

“About what, Mr Oscar and the three gentlemen of the businessman want to talk about, Boss? Are there any constraints in business cooperation?” Nimo asked Prapto while putting two cups of hot coffee. They had just finished gardening and were sitting at a table in front of the kitchen building.

Prapto lit his cigarette. “I don't think there's a constraint, Nimo. But, Mr. Oscar's face was quite serious when he told me yesterday. Maybe this is more about our business. We'll see later.”

“Iya, Boss. I guess, Mr. Reynaldi will definitely wear a green suit again,” said Nimo, laughing. He then lit his cigarette.

“No doubt,” says Prapto. “Honey you didn't see his private car when it came to the fishing festival yesterday. The color of the car is also green. And said Mr. Handoko who had visited his residence, Mr. Reynaldi's house was green.”

Nimo laughs. They then both look towards the garden door because they hear the sound of the motor stopping, which turns out to be Pinaka. He brought food.

Prapto. “Why are you from the direction of the village hall, Pinaka?”

“I cooked at Bu Intan's house, Mas,” Pinaka replied. He placed the food on the table and opened it. The delicious aroma of river fish fried in green chili spread around the table.

“The aroma is delicious,” said Prapto and Nimo.

“Arini send greetings, Mas Nimo,” says Pinaka. “We cooked three earlier, but Arini couldn't come here because she had to help her mother. He also cooks more to transfer to the mother Mas Nimo.”

“Thank you, Pinaka,” says Nimo. He then went to the kitchen to get a pot of rice and a plate.

***

“Daddy sure?” asked Lapen to his father who was on the bike with Lastri. “I ride a bike only.”

Stepen laughing. “Yakin. You don't trust your father? Let's go up, we'll go around the village and go to grandpa's house!”

Lapen finally rose with hesitation.

Upon their arrival at Mr. Oscar's house, Stepen and Lastri continued to go home, while Lapen immediately climbed into the lap of his grandfather who was chatting with Mr. Reynaldi Green.

“Fishing champions,” greet Mr. Reynaldi on Lapen.

“Hai, Grandpa Green.”

“Try telling me, how did you become number one in the fishing race yesterday?” ask Mr. Reynaldi.

Mr. Oscar smiled. Lapen then got down from her seat, moved to the chair beside Mr. Reynaldi, then explained about the fishing practice and the way he concocted the bait.

***

“Then how, Yah?” timo asked his father without turning his head, he focused on driving and is now ahead of a fruit truckload of”

“That's what we'll talk about later, Timo. We have not said agree or disagree. It's a great opportunity, Timo,” replied Mr. Gumiro.

“I don't know, Timo. That's why I invited them to discuss this afternoon. Hopefully there is a way.”

Timo. They're now in Mr. Oscar's yard. On the terrace, there were Prapto, Nimo, Mr. Handoko, Stepen, Mr. Reynaldi, and Mr. Oscar who were chatting.

“Everything has come turned out,” said Mr. Gumiro, smiling. He and Timo greeted everything on the terrace and sat down.

Mr. Gumiro lit his cigarette. “So, there are several companies that also operate in the field of food coming to me. They expressed a desire to participate in our business cooperation. There were also those who came to Mr. Hann and Mr. Reynaldi stated the same thing.

“Yang came to Pak Handoko is a luxury restaurant businessman who wants to work together to get a line to buy Kejora village plantation and also the exclusive recipe of Pak Handoko restaurant. And the one that comes to Mr. Reynaldi Green is the one who wants to sell Japanese vegetables.”

Prapto understood immediately. He lit a cigarette. “So, we need an increase in the number of supplies, Mr Gumiro?”

Mr. Gumiro nodded.

“Means we need more crops. If for the livestock I think it is easy to improve. But, if for plants, of course we need more land, while the land in Kejora village has been used all for gardening,” said Nimo.

Mr. Oscar nodded. “True, Nak Nimo. We need to increase yields without adding land. This business development opportunity is very good, dear to miss.”

Everyone on the porch thought. All the land is used for gardening. Village forests cannot be used because the ecosystem will be damaged in balance and will cause natural disasters. Meanwhile, the business opportunity is impossible to miss, because said Mr. Handoko and Mr. Reynaldi, one of the few companies that came to them is an overseas company.

“Terra petra.” Stepen's voice broke the silence. Everyone looked at Lapen's father.

“I've watched on youtube that terra petra can improve and even allow to speed up the harvest,” continued Stepen.

“Try explaining, Mas,” said Prapto who seemed very interested. “I've watched about it but only at a glance.”

Stepen then explained what he had learned about terra petra.

Terra preta is a land prevalent in the Amazon Basin, which was the result of innovations from ancient South American farmers. They create nutrient-rich soil also known as ‘dark soil.’ Their efforts left clues for modern farmers to create and develop garden spaces with superior soil. Terra preta del indio is the complete term for this dark land planted by pre-Columbian Indians from 500 to 2500 years ago.

Farmers know how important rich, highly fertile, nutrient-packed soil is, but they often have difficulty reaching it in the soil they use. Terra preta can teach us a lot about how to manage land and develop land. This type of Amazon‘ black ’earth is the result of centuries of soil maintenance and traditional farming practices. Its excellent quality proves that ancient South American farmers were so intuitive and innovative.

Amazon petra terra is characterized by its blackish-brown color. This black soil is very fertile and can regenerate its own fertility much faster than other types of soil.

Terra petra contains at least three times the natural ingredients of other areas in the Amazon basin and its level is much higher than the land commonly used by farmers in our country. The benefits of terra preta are very many and its unique advantages are that, when terra petra soil is placed on a land, it is likely that the microorganism will move and develop to spread its fertility to the ordinary soil around it.

Stepen closed the explanation. “But, now many artificial petra terra are made by the Endonesa people. Of course, the results will not be maximum. Good terra petra must be taken directly from the Amazon, Brazil, so that the microorganism will be able to breed itself after being placed on our land, so we can then examine, we make, we make, and so on, and we develop ourselves.”

Everyone who heard Stepen's explanation nodded. And now, they turned meaningfully to Prapto and Nimo.