Kebumen farmers sell their soil for cash

Kebumen farmers sell their soil for cash

Singgir Kartana, Contributor/Kebumen, Central Java

It was afternoon in Kebagoran village, Pejagoan subdistrict, Kebumen, and six men were digging up a rice field with hoes and shovels and loading the soil into a truck parked nearby.

The truck eventually left, fully loaded, transporting the soil to its final destination.

"At least six truckloads of soil are transported from here every day," Sukidi, 27, a local, said.

This happens not only in Kebagoran, but also in other paddy fields in the subdistricts of Petanahan, Sruweng and Adimulyo.

It has become a common sight in the region, especially during the dry season when most of the regency's roofing tile producers increase their production.

Tile producers purchase a cubic meter of soil for Rp 75,000. It is usually the surface layer of soil from rice fields, the kind of soil used as the main material for the roofing tile industry in Kebumen.

It is no surprise that the ground level of many paddy fields in the region has dropped, and some fields contain holes up to one-and-a-half meters deep, turning them into infertile fields.

Soil quarrying in Kebumen has been going on since the 1980s, following the boom in the roofing tile industry in the region. The drastic increase in the sale of roofing tiles forced producers to supply tiles in increasing quantities, creating a drastic increase in the demand for the main raw material, which was soil.

"Paddy fields were seen as the best source for the material, such that extensive excavation was unavoidable, up to the present," said Basuki of the regental information and communication office.

The relatively high price of the soil has tempted many of the field owners in the region to sell their soil.

Kaseno, 52, from Peniron village, Pejagoan, was forced to sell his soil because the fields right next to his had also been dug up. As a consequence, his fields were at a higher elevation than the neighboring ones, making it difficult for him to water his fields.

"I saw no other way than to follow what other farmers had done. Otherwise, I could not continue cultivation," Kaseno said.

Madani, 41, of Kebagoran village, had a similar experience. Now he regrets his decision, especially because his field is now one of the lowest in the area.

Almost all of the fertile layers on his fields are gone. What is left is just a thin layer of soil and hard ground below. He can no longer count on the field to support his family.

"Only during the rainy season am I able to cultivate it a little. During the dry season, nothing can be done with it," said Madani, adding that none of the fields near his were no longer as high as the road that passed through them.

The worst damage can be seen in the region of Pejagoan subdistrict, where some 30 hectares of fields have become like a swamp. When the dry season comes, the surface of the fields is riddled with fissures.

During the rainy season, however, it turns into pools some two meters deep, sometimes deeper. From a distance they look like fishponds.

Many direct the blame for the environmental damage at roofing tile producers as the end users of the raw material, but of course most of the producers reject the accusation.

Agus Subekti, owner of MS Sokka, one of the largest roofing tile producers in the region, denied that soil quarrying had made the paddy fields infertile. He said they were always unable to sustain crops.

"It's wrong to say that soil quarrying has damaged the fields. The quarrying has made them even more fertile because farmers usually cover their fields with manure after digging. Besides, what we are taking is not the soil from the paddy fields but the soil from the higher areas. If it is a rice field, then it must be one that is located in a higher place," Agus said.

Agus Subekti and other producers may express their objections regarding the matter. Yet, the facts show that the damage has been done. The fact that only soil with a high kaolin content can produce roofing tiles of good quality is proof that paddy fields are the best source of raw material for the industry.

Sabar Irianto from the Kebumen regional planning office estimated that hundreds of hectares of rice fields in the region had been damaged due to soil quarrying for the regency's roofing tile industry.

With over 3,800 roofing tile businesses in the area, the industry needs up to over 750,000 cubic meters of soil per month, most of which is obtained from rice fields.

That excludes the soil needed by producers of red bricks, as the regency is also known for its red brick production, which also mostly uses soil from rice fields.

"So you can imagine what will happen to the rice fields in the region in, say, five years, if nothing is done about it," said Sabar, adding that the local government was looking for other, more environmentally friendly raw materials for the industry.

To meet this goal, the local government has established a partnership with several institutions, including the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Sabar said this would hopefully save Kebumen from further damage from the appetite of the roofing tile industry for soil.