Longan fruit season extended

Gigin Kurniawan, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Longan (Euphoria longana dimocharpus longana), known to the English people as dragon's eye or cat's eye fruit because of its shape, is popular because of its sweet taste.

Although it is cultivated on a large-scale in China, longan is not indigenous to this country. This fruit, known in Chinese as long yen or li keng for 40 centuries now, is thought to have its origin in India.

Irrespective of its origin, longan is still considered an exclusive fruit because it is relatively expensive. This fruit tree can grow well only in certain areas, particularly on high plains with an altitude of 500 to 1000 meters above sea level.

However, progress in agronomy has enabled this tree to grow on low-lying areas with warmer weather. It means that longan trees can now bear fruit well outside its original habitat.

In Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, particularly in Pajangan district, longan can grow well and bear sweet fruit. This is largely thanks to forestry instructor Endang Maryatun.

It is also extraordinary that in this area, known to be generally arid, longan can bear fruit beyond its usual season. Generally in places like Magelang, Temanggung and Ambarawa regencies, long known as longan centers, the harvest season for this fruit lasts between January and February. In Bantul, however, the harvest season takes place in June and July.

As longan trees can bear fruit in June and July, when in other places the trees do not have their fruit, longan growers can make a lot of money. While in the usual longan centers, a kilogram of longan costs Rp 10,000 to Rp 11,000, in Guwosari longan can cost Rp 13,000 per kilogram. Unfortunately, great supplies of longan from Thailand and China have now lowered the price of local longan.

Nevertheless, the fact that longan can grow well in Bantul is beneficial to the local growers as they can increase their income.

When a longan tree is 10 years old, it is about 4 meters to 10 m tall. At this age, it begins to produce a lot of fruit. Each tree can produce 50 kg. to 150 kg. of longan. If a kilogram of longan costs Rp 10,000, a grower can earn between Rp 500,000 and Rp 1.5 million from a single longan tree.

"This year I can get 300 kg. just from one or two trees," said Ridwan, 54, a resident of Kembangputihan, Guwosari, Pajangan, Bantul. He was one of the first to grow longan in this area.

He said that growing longan was economically profitable. When a longan tree grows out of the seed, it can begin to bear fruit between six to eight years. If it is grafted, the fruit bearing period can come sooner. "Sometimes, it bears fruit when it is only two years," said Ridwan.

The successful growing of longan trees in warm low-lying areas has been a blessing to forestry Endang, Ridwan's wife.

A mother of two, Endang has received the Kalpataru environmental award from President Megawati. The award was presented to her on June 5, the Environmental Day, in Denpasar, Bali.

"Honestly, I felt proud of the appreciation accorded to what I have done. Yet, it is also a burden for me as I have to continue making fresh achievements," she said.

She honestly admitted the role of her husband, the Bambanglipuro district head, in her success.

"Longan is now here because of my husband. I have only helped popularize it," said Endang, 43.

Ridwan said that at first he bought three young longan trees simply for fun when he was camping in Bandungan, Ambarawa in 1967. At that time he was in third grade in a senior secondary school. When he got home, he planted these trees in the garden.

Unexpectedly, these trees began to bear fruit in 1975. At first he got only five kilograms from each tree. A year later, he got 10 kilograms from each tree. So, he was interested to cultivate longan trees by means of grafting.

At first he grew longan trees only for himself but later some neighbors were interested to grow the trees too.

By stroke of luck, he married a forestry expert, Endang Maryatun. Thanks to her, longan trees became very popular in Pajangan district. At that time, she was actually assigned to reforest the area, which was then an arid hilly area. Her indefatigability for dozens of years has made the area green again.

Endang encouraged the district population to grow just anything. Seedlings were obtained from the government and also from her own effort. She has also successfully cultivated empon- empon, (spices) the material for traditional herbal medicine.

Endang's endeavor to regreen her district became more plain sailing with the help from the Yogyakarta agricultural service, which teamed up with the Environment Lovers Foundation and Yogya Bhakti Foundation to speed up the cultivation of longan trees. Ridwan's longan trees, proven to be very fruitful, have been grafted many times.

Today, around the historical Selarong Cave, a local tourist attraction, there are about 1,200 longan trees. It is expected that they will bear fruit in two years time. "They are intentionally planted around the cave to support tourism," said Endah, a graduate of a plantation school.

Although growing longan trees is profitable, it is not easy to make the growers plant the trees and look after them properly. "Most trees are simply let to grow without proper cultivation," she complained.

A lack of understanding of the significance of cultivation is the major constraint for Endah, who has done her present job for 25 years now. In fact, many people have vast plots of land but they cannot manage the land well. As a result, many farmers remain in poverty despite their vast agricultural land.