Farmer fights bird flu with herbal remedy

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.