The 25-year-old `Trubus' has sizable circulation<\/p>\n
By Samsudin Berlian<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Once, it was recommended to close down but now,
\nentering its 25th anniversary, the Trubus hobby and agricultural
\nmagazine enjoys a relatively sizable circulation and loyal
\nreaders.<\/p>\n
At first glance the monthly does not look very attractive,
\neven with virtually all the colors of the rainbow on its cover,
\nbut for those in the know, however, it is simply the best of its
\nkind in the country.<\/p>\n
It provides everything a hobbyist, gardener or even plantation
\nmanager needs to know.<\/p>\n
The subscribers are as colorful as its cover and as diverse as
\nits contents. Among them are the famous ex-badminton player Rudy
\nHartono, the unrivaled eight time champion of the All England,
\nformer Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Kentot Harseno, and
\nactress turned businesswoman Rima Melati.<\/p>\n
The July issue, for example, contains reports on exclusive
\nvegetables, like sage, borage and rhubarb, plus a bonus
\ndetachable 16-page supplement listing more than 30 other such
\nvegetables.<\/p>\n
It also, as usual, provides a wide selection of new things,
\nnew trends and timely advice. A recent issue included, for
\nexample, the introduction of protea, an exotic colorful flower
\nfrom Hawaii, a catalog of aquarium fish, how to ripen bananas
\ncorrectly, and the existence of mock tomato sauce made of papaya,
\ntapioca, or squash which contains colorings harmful to health.<\/p>\n
The monthly is now essentially run by energetic 43-year-old F.
\nRahardi, the deputy chief editor from Ambarawa, Central Java, who
\nalso happens to be a poet.<\/p>\n
He wanted the magazine to function as a farmers' reference,
\nbut when it did not work out and Trubus could not support itself,
\nhe switched the focus to \"city farmers\". Now the readers are
\nmiddle to upper class urban dwellers who willingly pay Rp 5,000
\n(US$2.3) for the useful, applicable and durable magazine.<\/p>\n
Independent<\/p>\n
Trubus was first published in December 1969 by the then two-
\nyear-old Yayasan Sosial Tani Membangun foundation. The foundation
\nwas established by the Pancasila Farmers Association (IPP) which
\nwas formed in 1958.<\/p>\n
Later the IPP was fused into the only government sanctioned
\nfarmers union HKTI, which was virtually inactive, and the
\nfoundation became independent.<\/p>\n
In 1984, the foundation formed Bina Swadaya to manage its wide
\nranging activities. Now Bina Swadaya is widely known and one of
\nthe largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country.
\nIts activities include agribusiness (six Trubus shops in Jakarta
\nselling agricultural products mainly to hobbyists), poverty
\nalleviation, publishing houses, a social forestry program, an
\nincome generating program, alternative tourism -- agrotourism and
\necotourism -- and development research and consultation.<\/p>\n
Although, among NGOs, Bina Swadaya is noted for its Usaha
\nBersama self help program, among the urban public Trubus is the
\nmost popular of all its endeavors.<\/p>\n
The monthly, with a circulation of around 50,000, provides
\ninformation on agricultural technologies, control of pests and
\nplant diseases, agricultural business analysis, and introduces
\nnew, potentially economical agricultural products.<\/p>\n
The magazine had a hard time financially in the 1970s and
\n1980s and had difficulty recruiting writers and contributors.<\/p>\n
Until then it was routinely injected with fresh funds from a
\nWest Germany institution to keep it going, but in 1980 the funds
\nstopped coming.<\/p>\n
Rahardi related that the late P.K. Oyong, a respected
\njournalist and one of the founders of the Kompas daily, advised
\nit to close down, saying, \"This kind of magazine is not destined
\nto live for a long time.\"<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the magazine's patrons refused to give up and
\nproved him wrong. They set up a book publishing house which sold
\nagricultural books by mail order. It became, and still is, very
\nsuccessful and the profit was used to support Trubus.<\/p>\n
In 1986 Trubus succeeded to stand on its own after targeting
\nupper-middle class urban hobbyists and, in a lesser degree,
\nbusinesses as readers.<\/p>\n
`Real farmers'<\/p>\n
Not all the subscribers were happy with the change of
\ndirection, though. Noted journalist and novelist Mochtar Lubis,
\nwho has followed the growth of the magazine since its beginning,
\nwanted the magazine to stick to its original objective of helping
\nsmall farmers.<\/p>\n
Lubis says he understands the financial constraint Trubus
\nfaced, but now that the magazine has overcome the difficulty it
\nshould once more pay attention to the \"real farmers\".<\/p>\n
He suggests that Trubus publish a sister magazine, a cheaper
\none with simpler language, to serve farmers in remote areas.<\/p>\n
As it now stands, Lubis believes the magazine is able to serve
\nthe hobbyists but is dissatisfied with its tendency to prod its
\nreaders' consumptive drive with articles on exotic plants or
\nfish.<\/p>\n
Lubis says he does not get much from Trubus, which he only
\nreads to keep updated, since he also subscribes to more
\nsophisticated magazines from Europe and America.<\/p>\n
Now occupying the fourth floor of the Bina Swadaya building at
\nJl. Gunung Sahari III\/7, Central Jakarta, the Trubus magazine has
\n90 employees including 13 full time writers who are mostly
\nagriculture graduates with journalistic training.<\/p>",
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