'Nilam' the source of riches and despair

Kasparman, Contributor, Nias, North Sumatra

The shack on the side of the road is in bad shape. Part of its roof has caved in, and the wooden and bamboo walls are decaying. The garden is in total neglect and vines are starting to creep up its walls. The shack has obviously not been used for a long time.

"It was in this very shack that my parents earned money to put me through school," said D. Telambanua, a resident of Mbombo Aukhu village in Nias, North Sumatra, while pointing to the old, lifeless shack.

"It's all just memories now. Apart from education, we can no longer rely on the shack to pay for our other expenses," he added.

Telambanua said the shack had been used for processing the leaves of nilam (patchouli) into oil. When the price of patchouli went up, activity in the shack never stopped, and he said he often slept there.

Inside it was a large fireplace, which was a hole in the ground about one meter deep and two meters wide. In it was a rusty drum used to heat the patchouli leaves.

Outside the shack, about ten meters away, was a small stream. Water was channeled from it to the drum by way of an iron pipe that was five centimeters in diameter. Attached to the drum was a smaller pipe that was about two meters in length. It was used for the water's evaporation that in the end became patchouli oil. At the end of the pipe was a small can. "We would collect the patchouli oil in this can," said Telambanua.

A number of similar shacks can be found along the road on Nias island, but the industry has turned sluggish.

When the price of patchouli reached its peak in 1998, it was like an extraordinary gift from God for the island's population of 678,380. But soon their lifestyle started to change.

"In 1998, the price of patchouli oil reached Rp 1 million (US$99) per kilogram, and it could even fetch Rp 1.2 million in mid-1998," said one resident, Faiqi Asa Bawamenewi.

Unfortunately, the high price of patchouli oil could not be maintained for long and it gradually dropped. Those who had increased the size of their plantations now started to feel lazy, and often left their plantations.

Current data indicates that the price of patchouli oil ranges between Rp 150,000 and Rp 200,000 per kilogram.

The patchouli plant was first introduced to the people of Nias in the 1970s by Lase, an elementary school principal in Sifaozoasi Ulu Hou village in Indano Gawo subdistrict.

Faiqi said that people at first looked down on Lase's idea to grow the plant in the area.

Despite the negative response, Lase went ahead with his plan to grow patchouli on a one-hectare plot.

"At that time he only had my father's support," Faiqi said.

Eight months went by and the plants were ready for harvesting. Lase then invited a friend from Aceh to teach him how to distill oil from the shrubby mint.

"I still remember that a kilogram of patchouli oil at that time could fetch only Rp 1,000 a kilogram," Faiqi recalled.

Mostly found in tropical areas, the patchouli is a climbing plant with shoots that can reach a height of about 50 cm from the ground. It can be transplanted by way of grafting or cutting the stem. When the plant is eight months old, it is ready for harvest and transplantation. Two parts of the stem are normally cut off. The lower part is for the roots and the upper part is for producing oil. A hectare of patchouli plants can yield about 40 kg to 60 kg of oil.

Encouraged by Lase's success with his sweet-smelling oil business, people in Indano Gawo joined in. They started to clear forests to grow patchouli. Soon, some 70 percent of the people on Nias were engaged in the industry. However, there is no precise data on the size of the plantations.

More and more forests were disappearing since there is no regulation on land ownership on the island. "They just went into the forests and got what they wanted," Faiqi recalled.

Patchouli is a plant that can quickly remove humus. The plant contains oil that kills humus. It will take at least seven years for other plants to grow in areas where patchouli used to grow.

"That's why Nias doesn't have big forests. Big trees are continually being cut down," said Faiqi.

The intense development of patchouli plantations in the 1980s by clearing the forest were blamed for the recent floods that devastated the island. "The trees were first cut down to make way for patchouli plantations, and then the wood was used for fires to distill the oil," Faiqi said.