'Salak madu', Sleman's fruity treasure

'Salak madu', Sleman's fruity treasure

Bambang M, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Last century, a Yogyakarta palace courtier and resident of Sleman
regency, Kartodimejo alias Slamet, cleared land some 20
kilometers north of the capital to found the village now known as
Balerante.

Kartodimejo, who served during the reign of sultan Hamengku
Buwono VIII, between 1921 to 1939, came across an unusual thorny
fruit plant. He decided not to uproot it and the sweet fruit was
later identified as salak madu, a Salacca zalacca or variety of
snake fruit.

Kartodimejo's decision proved rewarding for snake fruit
farmers throughout the regency. Salak madu is now Sleman's top
agricultural product.

Sleman is also renowned for another snake fruit variety, the
salak pondoh. The fruit has been planted in the regency since
1998.

Nationwide, the pondoh variety also gained meteoric popularity
making competition tough for snake fruit farmers in Sleman.

Locals soon learned that salak madu tasted better than other
varieties, and planned to market the fruit as unique to the area.

Sleman's agricultural and forestry office has set the target
of 23-hectares of salak madu farms in the regency before 2008.

The office estimates that 1,000 square meters of salak madu
plantations could accumulate about Rp 140.2 million (US$16,000)
in profit in four years. The sum is considerable, particularly
considering the relatively low operational costs of Rp 9.7
million that would be borne by farmers.

Snake fruit farmers in Sleman learned the hard way -- or from
the pondoh farmer's success. In order to prevent others from
growing salak madu, farmers in Sleman agreed not to sell salak
madu seeds to farmers or people outside Sleman regency, said
Mujono, the chairman of Sari Madu (Balerante's association of
salak madu farmers).

"Those found to have done so will be expelled from the
organization," he said.

The great grandson of one of the first salak madu farmers,
Kartodimejo, Mujono added that numerous people, including an
envoy of a top government official from East Java, had come to
the village to purchase the seeds.

"The farmers realize they must not repeat the mistake they
made while popularizing salak pondoh in the 1980s," Sri
Purwaningsih, a director of the food crops and agricultural
department of Sleman's agricultural and forestry office, said.

Sri said that a study conducted by her department showed that
the salak madu has smaller leaves than the pondoh variety so that
it looks stiffer and more condensed.

The pattern on the skin of the salak madu is more uniform, it
is smaller than the pondoh variety and the flesh is sweeter and
thicker, she explained.

On Dec. 22, 2003, the National Seedling Institute in Jakarta
officially accredited salak madu as a snake fruit variety.

"Salak madu is officially recognized as unique to Sleman.
Thus, should the same type of salak be found somewhere else it
would still be called salak madu," Sri said.

Salak madu costs Rp 20,000 a kilogram at the market, much more
expensive than pondoh snake fruit, which is sold for just Rp
3,000 a kilogram. The higher price is mostly due to the limited
supply.

"We have some 1,325 salak madu plants in Balerante and only
200 of them have yielded fruit so far," said Mujono, adding that
all 200 of the plants were his.

He recalled that five plants would bear 42.5 kilograms of
fruit, which he sold for a total of Rp 850,000. He said that his
fruit always sold out at the market.

While it was difficult to predict exactly when the prickly
plants would produce fruit, Mujono said, theoretically, they
could bear fruit all year long.

He explained the plants grew well at 300 meters to 700 meters
above sea level, they were susceptible to drought but tolerated
heavy rain.

Normally, a salak madu plant yields fruit at the age of
one-and-a-half years. Some six months later the fruit is ripe and
may be harvested. The harvest periods are usually December to
January and June to July, and the fruit stays fresh for up to 15
days after harvest.

He said the plants, however, did not always yield a good crop.
He said in 1985 -- when his father Hardi Wiyono farmed salak madu
seedlings left by Kartodimejo -- only two of three seedlings grew
well. Even these did not bear fruit and Hardi uprooted the plants
in dismay.

Mujono said the quality of the seeds also determined the
plant's growth. Only a fine seed of less than four years of age
would sprout.

That is why a salak madu seedling costs Rp 250,000, while a
pondoh seedling is no more than Rp 5,000.

With each harvest, Mujono never forgets to express his
gratitude to his great grandfather for not uprooting the strange
thorny plant he found as a pioneer.

Mujono remembers well the day he named the fruit salak madu.
The plants inherited by his predecessors were initially thought
to be ordinary pondoh.

In 1998, he invited Yayah, a student of the School of
Agriculture of state-run Gadjah Mada University to his plantation
to conduct research on the snake fruit, which apparently had a
high sugar content.

When she asked him for the name of the snake fruit, Mujono
spontaneously asked her to call it salak madu in reference to its
sweet taste.

Afterward, Mujono often traveled to different places to
promote the snake fruit. He also asked other farmers to grow
salak madu.

The plants Mujono's great grandfather found last century grow
in his front yard. They have been moved four times but still they
thrive. Mujono hopes this is a sign that local farmers' welfare
will improve by growing the hardy plants.