Gito Wiyono saves rare tubers<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Gito Wiyono, 54, is neither a researcher nor a scientist. He is
\nan elementary school dropout and a humble farmer of Brongkol, a
\nvillage in the hills of Bantul, some 25 kilometers southwest of
\nhere.<\/p>\n
What makes him so special is his great concern over the
\npreservation of local edible tubers -- many of which have become
\nrare. In his collection are over 100 species of tubers.<\/p>\n
Garut (Arrowroot), talas (Xanthosoma vialaceum), gembili, uwi,
\nsuweg, walur, iles, ore, ganyong (Queensland arrowroot), kimpul,
\nsente (Alocasia macrorhiza), jebubug, gadhung, kleci, dorak, and
\ncassava (Ipomoea batatas), and many others whose names are not
\nfamiliar even to local farmers, are in Gito Wiyono's collection.
\nMost of them come in more than one variety.<\/p>\n
\"I have 24 different subspecies of cassava,\" Gito Wiyono, or
\nGito as he is affectionately called, told The Jakarta Post. He
\nrattled off the list of cassava species he has in the local
\ndialect.<\/p>\n
Gito said he started collecting tuber plants in 1995 by
\nnurturing wild tubers growing on his 1,200-square-meter farm, of
\nwhich he later donated half to be used as the village's public
\ncemetery.<\/p>\n
He never had the slightest intention to grow the plant as a
\nway to save it from extinction. He did it out of mere economic
\nreasons: to consume the produce or sell it on the market.<\/p>\n
He began planting tubers when he his rice harvest failed
\nbecause of pests, and he had to work as a gardener at Argodadi's
\nvillage office. He found that food prices, especially for rice,
\nwere expensive at the time.<\/p>\n
However, as time went by, he became more and more interested
\nin planting more tubers in his field, especially after realizing
\nthat many of them were endangered. He then began hunting for
\ntubers at a number of local markets, and then transplanted them
\nat his farm.<\/p>\n
After developing contacts with more people, he has one thing
\non his mind, and that is to preserve the rare tubers from
\nextinction.<\/p>\n
\"I have been compelled to do so because I realized that many
\ntuber species were on the brink of extinction. Among the rare
\nones are those that were once our staple food, especially during
\nthe country's difficult times in the 1950s,\" Gito said.<\/p>\n
And that is how he became a tuber farmer, a profession that
\nhas won him the nickname Gito Garut, referring to one of the
\ntubers he plants.<\/p>\n
In fact, garut has now become Gito's main source of income as
\nhe makes this particular tuber the main product of his total
\n5,000-square-meter farm and the other 1.5 hectares he rents from
\nneighbors.<\/p>\n
\"Thanks to tubers, I can now buy more farmland and hire some
\nmore help for my garut business,\" said Gito, adding that he also
\nproduces garut crackers and powder. Due to his hard work, he can
\nsave Rp 400,000 in cash a month.<\/p>\n
\"I also make crackers and powder from other tubers, including
\nthe rare ones, but they are mostly based on order,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The father of six children said the reason why he was proud of
\nwhat he was doing was that the tubers had made it possible for
\nhim to meet and interact with many people.<\/p>\n
People from faraway places come to him for the tuber business.
\nThey come from Surakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Jakarta, Banjarmasin,
\nMedan and Makassar.<\/p>\n
The local agriculture office, too, often invites Gito to share
\nhis tuber-planting experiences with other farmers in the region
\nin various discussions. His tuber fields become a kind of
\nlaboratory for researchers and students of local universities.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes I feel awkward because I didn't finish my
\nelementary schooling. But I'm often asked to give 'lectures' to
\nuniversity students on planting tubers,\" Gito said.<\/p>\n
He said that planting tubers was very easy and required only
\nsimple technology.<\/p>\n
\"What you have to do is just get rid of the wild grass around
\nthem and give them some manure,\" said Gito.<\/p>\n
Brongkol, where Gito lives in, is a dry and rocky area. It is
\ndifficult to plant anything there unless it is during the
\nrainy season. In the dry season, most plants dry up.<\/p>\n
Planting tubers, as Gito has proven, does not require a large
\nquantity of water. They can grow just fine throughout the year,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Gito's experience has given his neighbors a useful lesson. No
\nless than 50 of his neighbors currently make use of their spare
\nfields to plant tubers, mostly garut, and sell the produce to
\nGito, who will make it into crackers or powder, or just resell it
\nto traders.<\/p>\n
\"As far as I know, Gito is the only one to preserve tubers in
\nthe province, or maybe even the country. I have never known of
\nsuch a vast collection of tubers as his. He has done a great job
\nin preserving rare tubers,\" said Nursanti Widi Arimbi, a lecturer
\nat neighboring Wangsa Manggala University's School of
\nAgriculture, which is conducting research at Gito's tuber farm.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gito-wiyono-saves-rare-tubers-1447893297",
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