Mount Merapi farmer lives organically with nature

Mount Merapi farmer lives organically with nature

By Des Price

MT. MERAPI, Central Java (JP): A windy, narrow road leads up
to the hamlet of Muntilan, which is within a stone's throw from
Mount Merapi's slopes, and is a peaceful rural setting where life
for most of the locals goes on as though they were far removed
from any dangers that nature may pose for human life.

Rice-growing is an important part of the economy here and one
of Muntilan's smallholders is more concerned about the man-made
environmental affects on crops and the soil rather than the vapor
and lava that periodically spurts from Indonesia's most active
volcano.

Pak Kahar, was raised on the land and has worked as a farmer
for most of his life.

His conventional farming days, which started in the seventies,
with the advent of the so-called "green revolution" -- a term
which may be considered a misnomer -- typified by hybrid rice
crops and dependence on artificial fertilizers.

Until five years ago, Pak Kahar asked few questions about
farming methods, and like many of his neighbors, he planted just
two cash crops -- rice and chilis. The rice was a hybrid variety
that relies on artificial fertilizers to ensure its growth and
productivity, and pesticides to keep it free from predators.

At this time, he heard about a seminar on organic farming that
had been planned in Yogyakarta and he decided to attend. The
seminar sparked his interest in returning to the ways of his
nenek moyang (forefathers) whereby people live closer to nature
and consider the cyclical pattern of events of growth,
interaction and decomposition.

Enthused and enlightened, he left his village and went to
Bogor to study organic farming -- sponsored by a church official
called Romo (Father) Agatu. Upon returning to his own, rural
retreat, he got down to work on his land, immediately putting to
practice what he had learned, such as companion planting.

Uprooting some of his former crops, he started to grow crops
that assist other crops such as beans, which, through their
roots, add valuable nitrogen to the soil. His new focus is on
what is called multi-cropping, meaning that his land will become
covered with dozens of different crops, thereby, amongst other
things, reducing the stronghold of pests and allowing their
natural predators to play their role without the interference of
chemicals in the process. To this end, he has planted crops such
as lettuce, beans and peanuts, which he says, all support each
other.

With one eye on Mount Merapi's cone and the other on Pak
Kahar's garden, a group of visitors are shown around his small,
but impressive smallholding. Escorting visitors to the edge of
his garden, with a glint in his eye and a mischievous smile, he
took the lid off a barrel full of his liquid fertilizer
supplement.

"In here, I put leaves and plants from the garden as well as
dung from pigs and cows; I also add pigs' urine." As well as this
he includes bacteria, procured from the stomachs of cows, that
helps to break down organic matter and thereby speed up the
decomposition process.

On the soil around the plants on his land, he has applied
mulch, which consists of leaves, bark and compost that help to
protect plants from encroaching weeds, retains moisture and adds
nutrients to the soil.

Although Pak Kahar, after gaining enlightenment, immediately
switched over to organic growing methods, many farmers reach this
ecological nirvana by a slower, more gradual process, often out
of necessity, as the soil becomes devoid of nutrients, and
initial yields when switching back to organic methods may be very
low.

There are some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that
assist farmers to do this and in Yogyakarta, a consortium of NGOs
and individuals make up "Konsorsium Masyarakat Fair Trade". With
financial and educational assistance from Oxfam, an international
fair trade aid organization, the consortium provides training and
support to farmers who have switched to organic farming or who
are in the process of transition. Farmers in this area may join a
group and get training and support in a variety of ways.

In the village of Ganti Warno, in the regency of Klaten, which
incidentally, was the starting point for the green revolution in
Indonesia, groups of farmers meet to discuss practical issues,
such as the price they will sell their rice, together with other
more general concerns such as the environment, human rights and
gender issues.

At the home of Pak Wening, who is a field officer for an NGO
called Mitra Tani (Farmers' Partners), the farmers meet regularly
to engage in dialogue and monitor their progress toward their
ultimate aim of becoming completely organic. None of the groups
use chemical pesticides: Pak Wening explained that there are
alternatives: "Our pest management systems involve having
different harvest times achieved by different planting times. We
avoid mono-crop farming and plant other, different crops such as
beans, cucumbers or tomatoes."

Of the ten farmers' groups, four now farm using only organic
methods while the other six use between 10 to 50 percent of the
chemicals they used previously and are close to achieving
complete organic farming.

Fair prices

Farmers like Pak Kahar supply Suharni, a shop in Yogyakarta
(featured in The Jakarta Post on Feb. 19, 2001) that sells
organic rice and has experimented with selling other products.
What makes fair trade possible is customer willingness to pay
about 15 percent extra for rice that contains no potentially
harmful chemical residues and is bought from farmers who are
members of organizations that attempt to ensure that workers
receive fair pay for their produce.

Many organic farmers rode through the economic crisis
relatively well and Pak Kahar delights in the fact that he
switched to organic farming two years prior to the event, which
shook the nation with the volatility of his nearby "fire
mountain".