Is there anyone not tempted by sweet melons?

By Antariksawan Jusuf

JAKARTA (JP): You may have never been to Java's easternmost area of Banyuwangi but if you have tasted juicy sweet local watermelon, you most probably have consumed the products from that regency, known popularly as the land of the Gandrung erotic dance.

In the wholesale market of Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, Banyuwangi-produced watermelon is a trademark. It guarantees a good quality product. To enhance their product, all fruit sellers claim their watermelons are from Banyuwangi.

"In a sense, it is true," said Agus Ibrahim, one of the watermelon sellers at Kramat Jati market.

Banyuwangi directly supplies some 60 percent of the total watermelon available in Java's markets. The remaining are the products of other regencies such as the neighboring East Java towns of Jember, Situbondo, Probolinggo or Sidoarjo. Some come from as far away as Lampung, Sumatra.

"But don't forget, the watermelon farmers of those areas, including Lampung, are nomadic farmers from Banyuwangi," said Ibrahim.

To ensure a regular supply to the market, the farmers move from one area to another, trying to find the most suitable season to grow watermelon. "They even bring a troupe of helpers from Banyuwangi," said Ibrahim. Soon after the last pick is harvested from a particular area, they move to another area to grow yet another crop.

"It may be because of the soil or the weather, but we find the most delicious watermelons which keep well, are brought directly in from Banyuwangi," said Ibrahim. "That's why every seller claims his melons are from Banyuwangi."

He said Kramat Jati alone sees hundreds of tons of watermelons traded every day. These reach the remaining small-time retailers at traditional markets and the upper markets of hotels and supermarkets in Jakarta and its greater area.

Suppliers for upper markets, who mostly do not come from Banyuwangi, come to the market with marketing ploys. They hand pick the best products, and put on stickers of their own trading company.

"So our products end up with consumers, even though they sport labels from different companies," said Ibrahim. "But they are eating watermelon from the same producers."

Although mostly coming from Banyuwangi, competition among sellers remains high. Their middlemen, known as peluncur, work hard competing with each other to attract farmers to sell the products for them. With huge 5 ton to 10 ton capacity trucks, these middlemen bring the fruit from the farm to major markets in Java.

Ibrahim, whose four-meter-by-nine-meter stall sells up to 50 tons per day, normally finds it difficult to find a spot to sleep in his stall. "There are watermelons everywhere," he said.

The biggest problem they face is not competition among sellers, nor the flood of imported fruit, but the fluctuating rupiah to the U.S. dollar.

Ibrahim said Indonesian farmers are still dependent on the seeds imported from Taiwan. "We can not compensate the increasing price of seeds to the products' price. Farmers just have to bear the cost," Ibrahim said.