Pacitan, East Java Farmers in Pacitan regency's villages of Mantren and Pringkuku in East Java are in high spirits after planting a new variety of local soybean that researchers say produces a high yield.
With the support of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University (UGM) and consumer good company PT Unilever Indonesia, the farmers officially began planting a newly developed black soybean variety earlier this month.
A total of 105 hectares of fields have been prepared for this planting season; 70 hectares in Mantren village, Punung sub-district, and the remaining 35 hectares in Pringkuku village, Pringkuku sub-district.
"We sincerely hope the claim is true ... and the black soybean can really offer us big yields. That way we can boost our incomes," Mujahid, 62, of Pringkuku village told The Jakarta Post.
Mujahid is one of 625 farmers in the two villages that have joined a black soybean plantation program in the region.
By joining the program, Mujahid hoped he would be able to increase his production output from a previous 0.8 tons of yellow soybeans per hectare to some 2.5 tons of black soybeans in the coming three months.
"If it succeeds, I'm quite sure more farmers will happily join the program," he said, adding more farmers in his village were prepared to join the program in the next planting season if it was successful.
Coordinator of UGM-Unilever's soybean farmer empowerment program, Mary Astuti, said the local black soybean was superior both in terms of yield and nutritional content.
Officially launched in September last year as mallika, the black soybean, Mary said, has been tested and data from research shows it can produce between 1.65 tons to 2.94 tons per hectare. The national soybean production figure is currently 1.3 tons per hectare.
"The results from the field are even greater ... up to 3.46 tons per hectare," said Mary, who is also a lecturer at UGM's School of Agriculture.
She said the black soybean's skin contained antioxidants, making it beneficial in the prevention of cancer, high cholesterol and degenerative diseases.
The level of glutamate acid found in the black soybeans was relatively higher compared to that found in yellow soybeans, she added, making the new variety a better raw material in the production of soybean ketchup.
"Even without additional flavoring agents or food enhancers, ketchup made from black soybeans is rich in flavor and has a unique taste," Mary said.
For home-based soybean ketchup industries, she said, the black soybean was also more economical and suitable as it did not, unlike yellow soybeans, require a cooking process involving high temperatures and pressure.
Speaking separately to The Post, technical supervisor Tri Harjaka of the black soybean plantation program said as a plant, the black soybean was also more resistant to both flooding and drought, as well as pests.
"Our research shows that while other varieties of soybean may die due to flooding or prolonged drought, the mallika survives and can still produce a relatively good harvest," Tri said.
"The same is also true of pests like caterpillars and other crop-damaging insects."
According to PT Unilever Indonesia's director of human resources and corporate relations, Josef Bataona, the black soybean plantation program began with 12 farmers in Ciwalen village, Cianjur, West Java, in 2001.
The program was then extended to other provinces including Yogyakarta, Central Java and East Java, and has thus far involved more than 6,600 farmers and 1,100 hectares of plantations. The company plans to involve more farmers and fields in the future.
"Aside from helping achieve national soybean self-sufficiency by 2015, we also have a target to fulfill the company's soybean supply through this program," Josef said.
Unilever, he said, currently required more than 1,000 tons of black soybeans for it soybean ketchup products. The program has so far fulfilled 20 percent of the total amount required.
"Some 80 percent of our total population of 560,000 here are farmers. That is why agriculture is our main concern, to reduce poverty and unemployment in the regency," Pacitan Regent Sujono said on the sidelines of an official planting ceremony of the black soybean in Mantren.
"I do hope the program is successful, as other potential regions are also waiting to join," said Sujono.
Director general of food crops from the Ministry of Agriculture, Sutarto, said a partnership between industries and farmers was the best way to accelerate the government's soybean self-sufficiency program.
Through such a partnership, he said, farmers would be able to enjoy price stability while industries would enjoy a guaranteed soybean supply.
Sutarto added that Indonesia currently had some 600,000 hectares of soybean plantations nationwide, which had sharply dropped from the 1.6 million hectares several years ago.
Current national soybean production stands at about 600,000 tons a year. This is far below the national requirement of between 1.8 million to 2 million tons of soybeans a year.
The decrease in soybean production in the country, Sutarto said, will see the government import at least 1.2 million tons of soybeans this year.
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