SERANG, BANTEN – On Monday (10/2/2025), Dompet Dhuafa through its Banten branch held the first harvest of the largest Celery Center Greenhouse in the province. Located in Cimaung Kadu Village, Serang Regency, the 2,000 m² greenhouse, which originated from zakat funds, was built on 1.5 hectares of land and became a strategic step in meeting local celery needs which had been dependent on supplies from outside the region such as the Bogor and Bandung areas.
Before the first harvest of the largest celery center in Banten, Dompet Dhuafa also symbolically handed over celery to local farmers. The handover was directly carried out by Rahmad Riyadi as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dompet Dhuafa Republika Foundation.
Dompet Dhuafa Banten targets the independence of local farmers in Banten through the Philantropreuneur approach – a philanthropy-based empowerment concept that instills an entrepreneurial spirit for mustahik or zakat beneficiaries.
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In practice, the implementation of this productive zakat empowers four direct beneficiaries, namely local farmers, and also dozens of scholarship students. The agricultural students are required to do a year-long internship before getting a 7×10 m² home-scale greenhouse incubation. Meanwhile, the farmers are mentored for a maximum of two years before receiving similar greenhouse assistance, so that the production ecosystem can continue to grow.
“Today we can welcome the first harvest from the idea of Dompet Dhuafa Banten’s friends, namely the Celery Center First Harvest, this is something unique in my opinion, as well as being an offtaker for farmers who want to join Dompet Dhuafa,” said Rahmad Riyadi when interviewed.
According to Mokhlas Pidono, Branch Manager of Dompet Dhuafa Banten, in a year the harvest can reach 9-10 times, with a potential profit of up to 120 million rupiah per 2,000 m² per harvest. From this profit, Dompet Dhuafa Banten is committed to providing scholarships for underprivileged agricultural students, making this project not only economically beneficial, but also contributing to education and community welfare.
“So our concept is simple, but hopefully it will have an impact on the community, besides us fulfilling the market, underprivileged people are also helped. Dompet Dhuafa Banten only helps manage, find markets, and we don’t take a penny, it is a form of productive zakat, so that zakat is not used up once, “he said.
Supriyadi as a representative of the Banten Provincial Agriculture Office also appreciated Dompet Dhuafa Banten’s steps in empowering these local farmers, with the hope that a similar model could be applied to other commodities.
“We, from the Banten Provincial Agriculture Office, really appreciate the activities carried out by Dompet Dhuafa, with this celery plant, we hope that these local farmers can grow and develop well, because we need the progress of these local farmers to compete with farmers outside,” said Supriyadi.
Going forward, Dompet Dhuafa Banten targets to expand the land to 4,000-5,000 m² by 2025-2026, strengthening Banten’s position as an independent celery production center, while ensuring that local farmers have broad and stable market access.
Celery is a plant that is quite easy to cultivate with a hydroponic system. This plant has fibrous roots that are not too deep, so it does not require too much soil media. Therefore, celery can grow well in a hydroponic system that uses only a small amount of nutrient solution. Celery takes approximately 20-45 days to harvest. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photo: Anndini Dwi Putri
Editor: Dhika