The 25-year-old `Trubus' has sizable circulation

By Samsudin Berlian

JAKARTA (JP): Once, it was recommended to close down but now, entering its 25th anniversary, the Trubus hobby and agricultural magazine enjoys a relatively sizable circulation and loyal readers.

At first glance the monthly does not look very attractive, even with virtually all the colors of the rainbow on its cover, but for those in the know, however, it is simply the best of its kind in the country.

It provides everything a hobbyist, gardener or even plantation manager needs to know.

The subscribers are as colorful as its cover and as diverse as its contents. Among them are the famous ex-badminton player Rudy Hartono, the unrivaled eight time champion of the All England, former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Kentot Harseno, and actress turned businesswoman Rima Melati.

The July issue, for example, contains reports on exclusive vegetables, like sage, borage and rhubarb, plus a bonus detachable 16-page supplement listing more than 30 other such vegetables.

It also, as usual, provides a wide selection of new things, new trends and timely advice. A recent issue included, for example, the introduction of protea, an exotic colorful flower from Hawaii, a catalog of aquarium fish, how to ripen bananas correctly, and the existence of mock tomato sauce made of papaya, tapioca, or squash which contains colorings harmful to health.

The monthly is now essentially run by energetic 43-year-old F. Rahardi, the deputy chief editor from Ambarawa, Central Java, who also happens to be a poet.

He wanted the magazine to function as a farmers' reference, but when it did not work out and Trubus could not support itself, he switched the focus to "city farmers". Now the readers are middle to upper class urban dwellers who willingly pay Rp 5,000 (US$2.3) for the useful, applicable and durable magazine.

Independent

Trubus was first published in December 1969 by the then two- year-old Yayasan Sosial Tani Membangun foundation. The foundation was established by the Pancasila Farmers Association (IPP) which was formed in 1958.

Later the IPP was fused into the only government sanctioned farmers union HKTI, which was virtually inactive, and the foundation became independent.

In 1984, the foundation formed Bina Swadaya to manage its wide ranging activities. Now Bina Swadaya is widely known and one of the largest non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country. Its activities include agribusiness (six Trubus shops in Jakarta selling agricultural products mainly to hobbyists), poverty alleviation, publishing houses, a social forestry program, an income generating program, alternative tourism -- agrotourism and ecotourism -- and development research and consultation.

Although, among NGOs, Bina Swadaya is noted for its Usaha Bersama self help program, among the urban public Trubus is the most popular of all its endeavors.

The monthly, with a circulation of around 50,000, provides information on agricultural technologies, control of pests and plant diseases, agricultural business analysis, and introduces new, potentially economical agricultural products.

The magazine had a hard time financially in the 1970s and 1980s and had difficulty recruiting writers and contributors.

Until then it was routinely injected with fresh funds from a West Germany institution to keep it going, but in 1980 the funds stopped coming.

Rahardi related that the late P.K. Oyong, a respected journalist and one of the founders of the Kompas daily, advised it to close down, saying, "This kind of magazine is not destined to live for a long time."

Fortunately, the magazine's patrons refused to give up and proved him wrong. They set up a book publishing house which sold agricultural books by mail order. It became, and still is, very successful and the profit was used to support Trubus.

In 1986 Trubus succeeded to stand on its own after targeting upper-middle class urban hobbyists and, in a lesser degree, businesses as readers.

`Real farmers'

Not all the subscribers were happy with the change of direction, though. Noted journalist and novelist Mochtar Lubis, who has followed the growth of the magazine since its beginning, wanted the magazine to stick to its original objective of helping small farmers.

Lubis says he understands the financial constraint Trubus faced, but now that the magazine has overcome the difficulty it should once more pay attention to the "real farmers".

He suggests that Trubus publish a sister magazine, a cheaper one with simpler language, to serve farmers in remote areas.

As it now stands, Lubis believes the magazine is able to serve the hobbyists but is dissatisfied with its tendency to prod its readers' consumptive drive with articles on exotic plants or fish.

Lubis says he does not get much from Trubus, which he only reads to keep updated, since he also subscribes to more sophisticated magazines from Europe and America.

Now occupying the fourth floor of the Bina Swadaya building at Jl. Gunung Sahari III/7, Central Jakarta, the Trubus magazine has 90 employees including 13 full time writers who are mostly agriculture graduates with journalistic training.