Arid land in Bangunkerto turned into 'salak' orchards

Arid land in Bangunkerto turned into 'salak' orchards

By Ridlo Aryanto

SLEMAN, Yogyakarta (JP): If ever you are in Bangunkerto
village, Turi subdistrict, Sleman, some 17 kilometers north of
Yogyakarta, you can let your eyes feast upon the ubiquitous snake
fruit trees, or salak pondoh. One estimate has it there are some
three million luxuriant salak pondoh laden with fruit around the
village.

It was not until 1988, however, that the Bangunkerto villagers
realized there was a great demand for the fruit, which is one of
the most popular oleh-oleh (souvenir) for people visiting
Yogyakarta.

The farmers can demand a high price for the fruit, favored for
its sweet, crisp, white flesh. Realizing the fast-growing demand
for salak pondoh, Bangunkerto villagers began to work seriously
to turn arid land, where cashew plants were previously grown,
into productive salak pondoh orchards.

"This village has over 15 hectares of salak pondoh orchards,
75 percent of which have yielded fruit," said Subardjo, one of
the village's community leaders.

As the fame of salak pondoh has traveled far and wide,
reaching Malaysia, Singapore and even England, more and more
people, from Indonesia and abroad, have come to this village
simply to see the salak pondoh and pick the fruit, a trend that
Arifin Ilyas, the then regent of Sleman, seized to promote
agrotourism in Bangunkerto.

"Back in 1992, there was a five-hectare plot of barren and
unproductive land belonging to the village administration. After
a long discussion with the local administration, Sleman regency,
through its tourism service, turned the land into a tourist spot
offering sweet and crispy salak to visitors.

"Over one million salak pondoh have been planted in this area,
in the middle of which there is a fishing pond as well as
facilities for water sports for small children. The management of
this tourist spot has been left entirely to village officials,"
said Arifin Ilyas, who retired in 2000.

The year 1995 marked not only the first harvest of the fruit,
but also the official opening of this area for agrotourism. As
agreed, the management was left to local institutions.

"You only have to pay Rp 1,000 and you are free to enjoy the
salak pondoh. You can also visit a snake fruit museum, where you
can see a collection of Indonesian snake fruit varieties," said
Subardjo, adding that even the world-renowned Bogor Botanical
Gardens could not compare with the museum in this village in
terms of its collection of salak varieties.

Tired of walking around the salak pondoh orchards? Pay another
Rp 1,000 and you can ride around the artificial lake located in
the middle of an orchard.

Your visit to Bangunkerto will not be complete unless you
enjoy salak picked right from the trees. For this, you have to
pay Rp 3,5000 per kilo of salak that you pick yourself. While
eating the fruit that you have just picked is its own attraction,
careless picking will cause the rest of the fruit on the tree to
rot.

"This is really a problem because a visitor is usually tempted
to pick the largest fruit on the upper part of the bunch. Picking
the fruit this way will cause the other fruit in the bunch to
rot," said Prayitno, one of the tour guides in this salak pondoh
orchard.

Tour guides have been employed in this salak pondoh orchard
since 1997 to provide information about the varieties of salak in
the museum and to help visitors pick the fruit correctly. A
guide's fee usually depends on the number of salak picked.

Unfortunately, there are not enough salak pondoh for the
number of visitors coming to this agrotourism spot. On weekdays,
there are only dozens of tourists but on Sundays or holidays
thousands of tourists visit. To solve this problem, there has
been an arrangement since 1998 to send visitors and their guides
to villagers' gardens, Subardjo said.

He added that thanks to this arrangement, both the village
administration and the villagers benefited from the agrotourism.
Tourists will first enjoy the facilities provided at the
agrotourism spot and then go to villagers' salak pondoh gardens
to enjoy the sweet and crispy fruit.

Prastowo, one of the villagers, said that prior to the harvest
they set the price at Rp 5,000 per kilogram of fruit, while the
price is Rp 3,500/kg in the tourist spot.

He said that it was often the case that many visitors, despite
the presence of their guides, would pick the fruit they desired
by themselves, therefore making it more likely that the fruit
left on the tree would rot. Hence the higher price to make up for
the risk, said Prastowo.

Nina, who was visiting from Bandung to try the sweet and fresh
salak, said there was more satisfaction in picking the salak by
yourself.

Salak also make a good souvenir and locals sell the fruit
along all the routes taken by public transportation vehicles.
When there is a good harvest of salak, usually from January to
April, the fruit costs between Rp 2,500 and Rp 3,500 per
kilogram, but in other months the price can double. Large salak
of "super quality" will cost you Rp 5,500 to Rp 6,000 per
kilogram all year round.

How do you get to Bangunkerto? If you start from the Yogya
Monument in Yogyakarta, go straight ahead for 17 km before you
come to the Ngablak crossroads. To the east of Ngablak you can
find the gate to this salak pondoh agrotourism spot. You can also
take a different route using public transportation, which will
cost you Rp 1,000. Whichever route you take, you can enjoy the
uniquely green landscape at the foot of Mt. Merapi, an active
volcano still belching out lava and becoming increasingly more
exotic.