The Pakistaji Village Community and Government (Pemdes), Kabat District, should be proud. A number of sectors worked on in this one village are able to speak a lot at the national, even international level. Not only that, a number of achievements were also achieved. One of them won favorite winner in the Creative Video competition initiated by the Community and Village Empowerment Service (DPMD) last year. The video that carries the theme of village potential has succeeded in attracting the attention of the people of Banyuwangi. Yes, Pakistaji Village does have enormous potential. Including in the agricultural sector and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). He said, Pakistaji Village is one of the villages that has great potential. According to him, if this potential can be optimally developed, then Pakistaji Village will no doubt be better known and develop better. “There are several potentials that are superior to Pakistaji Village, namely the agricultural sector, plantations; as well as MSMEs such as batik," he said. The village with an area of 669.3 hectares has quite extensive agricultural and plantation land. In detail, 213 hectares of agricultural land and 70 hectares of plantation land. In the agricultural sector, the superiority of the village is not only rice, but also crops and fruit. Including watermelon which is the biggest contributor in the agricultural sector. Meanwhile, the plantation sector is focused on coconut trees. Pakistaji Village Head (Kades) Chotibul Umam confirmed that agriculture is the biggest sector in his village. It is not half-hearted, in a year the harvest of rice plants in Pakistaji Village reaches 1,200 tons of unhusked rice. "Agriculture in Pakistaji Village is an important sector because the majority of people depend on agriculture for their livelihood," he said. Meanwhile, in the plantation sector, Pakistaji Village has superior processed products, namely brown sugar and ant sugar. As a village that has a large area of coconut plantations, Pakistaji Village is one of the producers of brown sugar and ant sugar.
In fact, the ant sugar product has been known in various countries. "Apart from being farmers, the people of Pakistaji Village work as brown sugar makers," added Umam. One brown sugar maker, Salamun, 58, said he could extract sap from 27 coconut trees every day. Furthermore, the sap is processed into brown sugar. On average in a day can produce 1 quintal of brown sugar. "There are so many brown sugar makers in Pakistaji Village, even in one hamlet there can be dozens of brown sugar makers," said the father of four. Apart from producing brown sugar, a derivative product in the form of ant sugar has also boosted the popularity of Pakistaji Village. Ant sugar is an innovative product which is also often called crystal sugar. One of the advantages of this product is that it has a low calorie content. The only ant sugar maker in Pakistaji Village, namely Yudi Irawan, 50, admits that his product is well known in various countries. Like Germany and Singapore. According to him, there are not many sugar ant craftsmen in Banyuwangi, making Pakistaji Village have superior products that not many other villages have. "The market is through Bali, then other countries are starting to recognize it," he said. It doesn't stop there, the typical Banyuwangi batik produced in Pakistaji Village has also gone global, namely Gondho Arum Batik. The owner of the Gondho Batik Boutique, Arum Susiati, 55, confirmed that his batik is known in various circles. Starting from local people to foreign countries. “There was a visitor from the ministry. It is not uncommon for tourists from America and Korea to visit to buy batik from Pakistaji Village," said the mother of three. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Pakistaji Village Consultative Body (BPD) M. Muhlis, 70, said one of the plans that will be realized in the near future by his party and Pemdes Pakistaji is the construction of a Multipurpose Building. “When it is built, the building can be utilized by the community. Good for a celebration or just a game of futsal, "he concluded.
