Former clove farmers think of what might have been
By Agus Maryono
PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): Karsidi, 60, stared blankly at his three hectares of cassava fields. He puffed on a cigarette he rolled himself. Barechested and wearing knee-length pants, he occasionally pulled out tufts of grass from the ground around him.
"If I had not cut down my clove trees, my fate would have changed for the better now. I regret it but what else can I do?"
The resident of Limpa Kuwus village, Sumbang subdistrict, Banyumas district, Central Java, is one of several thousand clove growers in Banyumas who laments a rash decision made in anger 10 years ago.
Thousands of clove growers, incensed by plummeting prices due to the intervention of the Clove Marketing and Buffer-stocking Agency (BPPC), went on a rampage by cutting down their own trees.
"Who wouldn't have felt frustrated then because the price of cloves dropped from Rp 15,000/kg to Rp 1,500/kg. All clove growers were enraged," said Karsidi.
In their anger and frustration, the growers cut down their clove trees as a form of protest against BPPC, a government- sponsored agency which unilaterally decided the price of cloves.
The trading system introduced by BPPC was considered unfair because it led to a 1,000 percent drop in the price of cloves.
A staff member of the public relations section of the Banyumas district administration, Wahid, said the total area of productive clove trees subjected to irregular felling by the frustrated clove growers stood at more than 5,000 hectares.
"At that time cloves in Banyumas grew on more than 10,000 hectares of land. Now the area has shrunk to only 5,000 hectares."
Of 27 subdistricts in Banyumas district, he said, the biggest clove-producing areas were Kebasen, Sumbang and Kedung Banteng subdistricts.
"About 70 percent of Banyumas' cloves come from these three subdistricts and the remaining 30 percent in a roughly equal proportion from the other 24 subdistricts," he said.
The advent of reform in the country led to the revocation of a number of policies of the New Order regime. BPPC, as the only organization authorized to regulate the trading system of clove in Indonesia, was dissolved.
The price of cloves subsequently increased steadily. Within two months after the dissolution of BPPC, the price of cloves went up from Rp 1,500 to Rp 3,500, Rp 6,000 and then Rp 12,500. And it was quite a pleasant surprise to clove growers in Banyumas because in September this year, dry clove flowers could be sold for Rp 35,000/kg although now, following the decreasing demand, this price decreased to Rp 20,000 to Rp 22,000/kg.
According to the head of the economic section of Banyumas district administration, Suyatno, the price surged because cigarette factories in Central Java and East Java were prepared to purchase the cloves at a price.
"However, it is a pity the stocks of clove here are low because the land for clove growing is now much reduced."
He said the cloves bought by cigarette factories were a combination of the latest harvest and stocks the clove growers kept when the price was still good.
He said Banyumas district was once one of the largest clove producing areas in Central Java, and cigarette factories seem to assume it still is.
A clove wholesaler in Banyumas, Wijonarko, 50, said: "They are ready to purchase the cloves at any price you name as long as the cloves are immediately available."
Unfortunately, most of the clove trees have become firewood.
The former clove farmers can only watch as the price continues to increase, blaming themselves for their hasty actions.
Naraji, 63, a clove grower residing in the same village as Karsidi, said he could now only imagine owning a clove plantation. He formerly owned a seven-hectare clove plantation but cut down all the trees when the price went into a free-fall.
"If only I had not been carried away by emotion, I would have been able to build a house. Maybe I would have a house with a ceramic-covered floor," he said in his sprawling but dilapidated home.
The floor is made of cement, darkened and dirty from use. In his poor village of Limpa Kuwus, Naraji was once known as a wealthy clove grower.
"Thanks to the cloves I can have this house and the land on it. The floor was also made from the proceeds of selling cloves."
Productivity
Naraji and Karsidi can only imagine the potential riches if they had kept their clove plantations.
"One good tree free from pests will produce 20 kgs of dry cloves in one picking season," he said.
In a year, there are three to four harvests of ideally 300 to 400 clove trees on one hectare of land. In one harvest if the cloves are good, the proceeds can be calculated as follows: for one tree, the proceeds would be 20 kg x Rp 20,000/kg = Rp 400,000 while for one hectare, the money generated would be 400 x Rp 400,000 = Rp 160 million.
But thinking of the staggering figures stings in the memories of the farmers. Although the price of cloves is high today, neither of the two farmers has started to grow cloves again. They admit to being traumatized by the experience of having their livelihood and dreams destroyed by a government agency.
"We'll start growing cloves again someday when our country is safe," Naraji said.