Ani, high-yield tomato pioneer

Ani, high-yield tomato pioneer

Ridlo Aryanto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Oct. 23, 2001 marked the most memorable day in the life of Ani
Andayani, a biotechnological researcher with the Yogyakarta
provincial agriculture office.

On that day, President Megawati, moments after opening the
International Conference on Indonesian Biotechnology in
Yogyakarta, dropped by at the stand exhibiting hybrid tomatoes
that Ani had invented.

For over two minutes, the President observed a large round and
appetizingly orange tomato and asked Ani about it, who was in
charge of the stand herself.

"What tomato is this, mbak (sister)?" Megawati asked.

"A hybrid tomato. My own invention. As it has no name yet, I
would greatly appreciate it if you could give it a name," Ani
replied.

"Hmm, I've got to think about it first. By the way, what are
the names of our other superior tomatoes?"

"Intan (diamond) and Berlian (polished diamond)," Ani
replied.

"Why are the names very ordinary, without any Indonesian
characteristics?" the President asked again, leaving the stand,
apparently having no name ready for this superior tomato.

However, barely had she taken four steps when she returned to
the stand and suddenly said, "Dara Jingga (Orange Maiden), yes,
Dara Jingga, that's the name," she said, immediately writing the
name on a piece of paper.

A month later Ani registered her invention at the patent
directorate of the ministry of justice and human rights.
Unfortunately, the registration was not exactly plain sailing.

"I will have to wait for about 1.5 years before the patent is
issued. I cannot just sit still in the meantime as I've got to
realize my great dream of making available high-yielding and
cheap tomato seedlings to our tomato growers," said Ani, a mother
of two born in Cirebon, West Java, on Aug. 20, 1958.

Indonesian agricultural experts have carried out a lot of
research but unfortunately only a few of their results can be
applied on the ground.

"One of the constraints is that, generally, farmers find it
difficult to understand a scientific discovery and therefore
cannot apply it to their daily activities. As our farmers can
implement only a few scientific discoveries, they are usually
left behind by their counterparts from other countries when
talking about the quality of agricultural products," said Ani,
who holds a doctorate in agriculture from Japan's Nihon
University.

In fact, she went on, the main reason why Indonesia lags
behind in agricultural production is not merely the technology
but also the availability of high-yielding seedlings.

"We are rich in biodiversity, which may become a source for
high-yielding seedlings, but it is a fact that 90 percent of our
demand for high-yielding seedlings is met through imports.
Obviously, the price is high. To ensure that planting will
continue, our farmers use seedlings taken from plants, the
seedlings of which are imported. The longer this practice
continues, the quality of the seedlings decreases continuously,"
said Ani, who is also a lecturer at the postgraduate program for
agronomy at Gadjah Mada University.

Ani's worry about the availability of high-yielding seedlings
that farmers would find affordable has worried her since she
graduated from Bogor Institute of Agriculture in 1982.

"Other countries can solve this problem, why can't we? If we
persist in our learning, there must be a solution," she said.

She found the solution in Japan when the ministry of
agriculture sent her to a workshop on vegetable seed production
in Tsukuba, an event sponsored by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The instructor in this workshop, Senohara of Chiba University,
an expert in the production of tomato seedlings, recommended that
Ani pursue further studies at Chiba to get her master's degree in
agriculture. In 1995 Ani completed her studies for a master's
degree.

"Since then, I have had a strong urge to further study
seedling technology because I want to be able to produce high-
yielding seedlings myself."

In 1998, Ani began her long journey into how to produce high-
yielding seedlings by herself, from seedless watermelon to Dara
Jingga tomatoes. "Dara Jingga (Lycopercycum esculentum. L) is a
fleshy, juicy and sweet superior tomato. While other superior
tomatoes can produce only 20 tons of tomatoes per hectare, Dara
Jingga can yield 150. Compared with other superior tomatoes, Dara
Jingga can produce the largest tomatoes, as each can weigh up to
100 grams.

Unfortunately, the result of a multi-location test of this
hybrid tomato recommends that it be planted in areas higher than
400 m above sea level. Beneath this level, the harvest is still
disappointing," Ani said.

Last May, in cooperation with Sleman regency administration
and PT Tripilar, Ani began to harvest 2.5 hectares of her tomato
plants, from a total of 6 hectares of greenhouse land in
Pakembinangun village, Sleman.

"I'm quite satisfied with the yield of this maiden harvest.
For the time being, though, the entire harvest is designated for
seedlings. At least, our production will help reduce seedling
imports in the future. I have great hopes that the government and
private sector will be ready to lend a hand on a larger scale. We
need huge funds and the ministry of agriculture cannot afford to
finance the project single-handedly," she said.

Ani is still nurturing another ambition. "I was thinking of
developing new Dara Jingga which would grow well in both the wet
and dry seasons so that tomato growers could grow tomatoes at any
time. If supplies of tomatoes in the market were thin but tomato
growers could continue growing high-yielding tomatoes, the price
would be high."

The classic problem is, of course, funds. Ani is quite
optimistic that if the project gets sponsors, Indonesia would
eventually be able to compete in the world's high-yielding
seedling industries.

It is true that revolving funds in the seedling business take
quite a while, which may explain why investors are not keen on
investing in this area. However, the superior tomato seedlings
have a high multiplier effect.

"Tomatoes can make juice, sauce, condiments with chili peppers
or be eaten raw. I'm optimistic that the revolving funds will be
more promising. If we do not act right now, when else will we be
able to catch up with Japan, which is dozens of years ahead of
Indonesia in this area?" she said.

Anybody interested in lending a hand?