Surabaya turtledove-breeding farm booming despite crisis

Surabaya turtledove-breeding farm booming despite crisis

By Widyarto

SURABAYA (JP): The way money circulates here is just the way
it does in other business spots: clearly visible in huge amounts.
The difference is that this place is free from any formality
related to time and location. Few wear a tie. Many only don a
sarong and wear sandals.

Another difference is that a buyer will be very careful before
deciding to buy. He may need hours or even days. If necessary, he
may spend a night, and everything -- accommodation, meals and
drinks -- will be free of charge.

There is no special room in which to conclude a transaction.
Neither is there any special furniture, just five chairs. If you
get bored sitting on the carpeted floor, you simply stand up.

This place is a perkutut (turtledove) breeding farm owned by
H. Mochammad Huzainni, in Surabaya, East Java. In a single day,
transactions may involve tens or even hundreds of millions of
rupiah.

Some visitors admit that they have come here not out of love
alone but also out of need. To many of them, their livelihood is
buying and selling perkutut. Indeed, it is strange that since the
onset of the monetary crisis over half a year ago, this business
has picked up considerably.

"This is the right cure for depression brought about by the
crisis," said H. Ali Badri, who runs a cement business and is a
great lover of turtledoves and horses.

"Three months ago, I lost Rp 900 million because of a bad
check. To alleviate my stress, I tried doing a side business
here. Unexpectedly, I made a large profit in this business," said
the 38-year-old Badri, who, over time, has invested Rp 400
million in the turtledove business.

Turtledoves have no distinction in their feathers. However,
the sound produced when they coo is what makes them very special.
To turtledove lovers the melodious sound of the bird means big
money. If the bird is a winner in a contest, its selling value
will increase many times.

Perkutut are widely found in tropical areas, from Senegal in
Africa, to Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia in
Asia, and on to Australia, where it is prolific. Between 20
centimeters and 25 centimeters long, a turtledove is dominated by
the gray color on its breast and its head.

Female turtledoves are smaller than the male. Generally, it is
male turtledoves which produce golden sounds.

The sound of Senegalese doves and Australian Diamond doves are
strange compared with Indonesian turtledoves because of its heavy
tone.

A small turtledove from Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, has a softer
coo than a Bangkok dove, which produces a loud coo. In bird farms
in Asia, these two species are often crossbred, and this yields
superior turtledoves, which are good for contests.

Captive breeding of this bird is no easy thing. A small
turtledove will lay only two eggs. Although the mother bird can
coo, this is no guarantee that its offspring will also have this
quality.

Indonesian turtledoves enjoyed their heyday with lovers of
singing/cooing birds in 1970s. In the next decade, it was the
turn of crossbred turtledoves that dominated the market. At that
time, turtledove centers were in Tasikmalaya, West Java, and
Yogyakarta. Now, hundreds of small turtledove breeders are found
all over the country.

IBM

One of the more famous small turtledove breeding farms is one
owned by H.M. Huzainni, 45, who hails from Madura. It is located
at Jl. Dupak Bandarejo 10, North Surabaya, is called IBM
(Indonesia Bagian Madura, the Madurese part of Indonesia).

In mid-1992, Huzainni, a scrap-iron trader in a flea market,
sustained great losses. He almost lost all his wealth. To relieve
the stress, he spent his time enjoying the cooing of birds. For
the first time in his life he purchased a turtledove, for Rp 17.5
million.

"Unexpectedly, two months later, someone offered to buy my
bird for Rp 40 million and I sold it to him," he said. The next
year he bought another turtledove, for Rp 35 million.

Being an avid badminton enthusiast, he named the 8-month-old
bird after Mia Audina, one of Indonesia's top badminton players.

Huzainni entered the bird in a national contest in Jakarta in
1993 and it won. In became national champion again in the next
year's contest.

In that year, Huzainni added Damarwulan and Susi Susanti to
his collection of turtledoves. Over the years, his doves always
came first in contests held by the All-Indonesia Association of
Turtledove Enthusiasts. In 1995, Susi Susanti became world
champion in a contest in Bangkok. Now, it is the mascot of his
bird farm.

Right after Susi Susanti's Bangkok success, Huzainni began to
develop his bird farm.

"At present, I can't cope with all the orders for the export
of superior dove breeds to Bangkok. I can't even meet the demand
from Indonesian breeders," said Huzainni, a shy father of four.

Turtledove enthusiasts are eyeing the talented offspring of
Susi Susanti. The offsprings' value increases as they change
hands several times among bird lovers.

The direct offsprings are classified as A type and are sold
for Rp 12.5 million each. Then there are B, C and D categories,
depending on the proximity in lineage to Susi Susanti. They are
priced Rp 1.5 million, Rp 500,000 and between Rp 100,000 and Rp
150,000 respectively.

If a buyer is observant enough, a bird from the lowest
category may be sold at a higher price. H. Abdullah, a scrap-iron
vendor of Surabaya, for example, bought a small turtledove for Rp
65,000 but sold it a month later at the astonishing price of Rp
15 million.

His guess when buying the bird proved correct. The bird turned
out to be able to produce a golden sound. Unexpected profit-
making like this happens often.

Celebrities, government officials, businesspeople and other
turtledoves enthusiasts are ready to fork out huge amounts of
money to buy turtledoves.

Many act as brokers. Last month, Ali Badri made the highest
transaction in the turtledove business.

The bird belonged to Banjarmasin businessman Boy Tanjung, who
bought it last year from IBM Bird Farm for Rp 7 million but did
not take it home.

Three months later, Ali Badri got interested in the bird,
called Cinta Kasih (Loving Kindness) and finally bought it for Rp
15 million. Then another person offered to buy it for Rp 50
million.

In another week, the five-and-a-half-month-old bird was valued
at Rp 100 million. This transaction was a repeat of a record
transaction for a turtledove in Indonesia in 1995. The
transaction was concluded at the same place and for the same
value.

Uniquely, 2.5 percent of a transaction at IBM Bird Farm is
always set aside for charity. In 1997, donations amounted to
hundreds of millions of rupiah.

Huzainni has a strong conviction now that he is treading on
the right track. He is also proud of the fact that in the 1980s,
when the center of superior turtledove breeding was in Bangkok,
it moved to Central Java.

Indonesia is now famous for exporting turtledoves of superior
breeding. He is also optimistic that his turtledove business will
continue to flourish amid the generally sluggish economic
condition.