Farmer fights bird flu with herbal remedy

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Gunungkidul

Avian influenza, better known as bird flu, has put many poultry farmers out of business and caused great concern among the public following reports of it infecting humans. But poultry farmer Margono feels secure thanks to his home-grown herbal concoction.

Although he has no scientific proof to back the effectiveness of his herbal remedy, the 71-year-old resident of Gidak hamlet, Gunungkidul regency in Yogyakarta, believes it works just fine.

For him, it's proof enough that none of his hundreds of chickens were infected by the bird flu, even as his neighbors' chickens were being wiped out by the virus.

The concoction is made from boiling certain plants and roots found around his home, ranging from wild ginger, turmeric, to salam leaf and cloves.

"To test the herbal concoction, I gave it to my chickens and song birds twice a week. I simply mixed it with their drink. Thank God, it worked. My chickens are healthy and are not attacked by bird flu even though all of my neighbors' chickens died of it," said the retired policeman.

Margono learned to make herbal concoctions in 2000, when he was always falling sick and forced to take medications. Wanting to stay healthy, for the sake of his children, he turned to herbal remedies.

"Back then, I regularly suffered from flus and other illnesses. If I kept on taking pills, it would not be healthy for my body," he argued.

Inspired by reports of the popularity of traditional medicines in the mass media, he started looking out for books on herbal medicine. From such books, he studied each plant for its benefits before making his own concoctions from different herbs.

For his first trial, he asked his family members to drink his herbal medicine. For a month, each of his family members took the medicine in the morning and the afternoon.

"And it feels good. Although I'm old, I still have lots of energy and do not easily get tired," Margono said.

Soon, the elderly man started sharing his remedies with his relatives and neighbors.

Now, although his herbal medicine carries no special brand, it is gaining popularity, with orders of around 20 bottles per day coming from Central Java cities like Wonosobo, Surakarta and Purworejo.

And in the last three months, at a time when bird flu has resurfaced in many cities, including in Margono's village, he developed a herbal concoction for chickens.

The ingredients are the same as those he uses for people, only the concoction for chickens is made by boiling the herbal leftovers.

"The concoction is usually boiled twice, but that's for people. For chickens I boil the leftovers for the third or fourth time," said Margono.

He tried his medicine on young chickens which were given the concoction twice a week. "The result was satisfying; none of my chickens died," Margono said.

Just like the time when he first introduced his herbal remedy to his neighbors, now Margono is also introducing it to his neighbors' chickens.

"After my chickens and birds stayed healthy, not getting bird flu, now I give it to my neighbors so they can try it too. I give it to them for free. I'm happy if it also works for them," Margono said.