Batam Meets Organic

"Rusmin, 36, quickly counted off all the positives. "It grows well. The growth time is much faster. And it tastes sweet."

Standing between his modest house made of thin triplex board normally used for home ceilings, and his 1,000 square meter spread behind him, the dark-skinned wiry farmer explained how his crops fared after using compost.

Rusmin and four other farmers on Batam island are part of a trial project in the use of the compost, organic fertilizer made from land waste.

Batam is known as a growing free trade zone with 25 industrial parks on the island, the largest being Batamindo Park at more than 400 hectares. It wants to become a manufacturing and service hub to eventually rival its more sophisticated northern neighbor."

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