Spice Hub Bencah or often referred to as SH Bencah is a Bencah Farmer’s House which was inaugurated on February 14, 2024. SH Bencah is ranked number 3 after SHC Namang and SHC Pasir Putih. SH Bencah is located at RT 19, RW 10, Jl. Raya Toboali, Ds. Bencah, Kec. Airgegas, South Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province.
Routine activities carried out at SH Bencah include:
- Conducting data collection and training of pepper farmers in Bencah Village. The total number of farmers who have been enrolled is 92 farmers, and has 16 farmers who are included in the advanced farmer category
- Conducting garden assessments, garden reviews, finding out farmer problems and discussing solutions and actions needed in cultivating pepper. The number of plants planted varies greatly from 200-4000 pepper plants, and is not monoculture because it plants other plants such as rhizomes, fruit trees, and other commodities (oil palm, patchouli, rubber).
- SH Bencah has 2 groups of compost facilities (compost making) and 1 joint pepper nursery
- Pepper trading, almost all houses in Bencah Village have pepper seed reserves, usually the people here will sell their stored pepper for urgent needs, daily needs, and get the desired price target. Trading routines are usually done on Thursday nights
SH Bencah also has superior commodities other than pepper, namely patchouli commodities. 50% of pepper farmers who are included in the data collection plant patchouli, the number of patchouli plants planted varies from 500 clumps to 10,000 clumps. Patchouli will be planted intercropped with pepper or oil palm. In addition, Bencah Village also has 3 patchouli distilleries. This makes SH Bencah superior in patchouli commodities and its distillation because farmers already know how to cultivate and distill patchouli. This is very much in line with the aGROWforest design because it carries out intercropping of pepper and patchouli.
