Tobacco brings hope for farmers
Israr Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post, Temanggung, Central Java
Tobacco farmer Gunawan sits leisurely in his house in Bulu district, at the foot of Mt. Sumbing, some 80 kilometers northwest of Yogyakarta. He was looking in one direction, at his tobacco field glowing under the bright sun.
"I think I'll buy a Kijang van," the 34-year-old farmer said confidently.
He has every reason to be optimistic. Bright sunny days ahead of the harvesting month mean a ray of hope for tobacco farmers in Temanggung.
"The less rain, the better the tobacco quality will be. When there's no rain in July, it can be guaranteed there will be a lot of srinthil (tobacco type)," Gunawan said.
He was referring to a particular type of tobacco that contains a high concentration of nicotine and tar. The price of srinthil tobacco is very high, fluctuating between Rp 50,000 and Rp 150,000 per kilogram. Ordinary tobacco prices are usually between Rp 10,000 to Rp 30,000 per kilogram.
The harvesting season is the best time in the city.
Nuswantoro, a resident of Prapak in Kranggan district recalls that come harvest time, Temanggung becomes tobacco city.
At that time, he said, farmers from tobacco-rich districts like Bulu, Parakan and Ngadirejo would dry their tobacco in every corner of the city -- the town square, soccer fields, the sidewalk or even rent open spaces in other districts.
Nuswantoro, 31, who now works for a production house in Jakarta, was not exaggerating.
Gunawan said that during harvest time, a successful farmer could produce up to two tons of tobacco.
The tobacco industry can also make a person instantly rich, according to former chairman of Temanggung's students association in Yogyakarta, Mohamad Kurniawan.
"My junior high school friend from one of the tobacco districts used to buy a new motorbike every year. But when the business failed due to bad weather or heavy rains, he resold the bike," he said.
Sometimes, he added, one could find refrigerators in villages where there was no electricity. The refrigerators were then used as wardrobes.
"It is not uncommon during the planting season for farmers to sell their motorbikes, cars, refrigerators, TV satellite dish or anything else during planting seasons because they need cash to buy organic fertilizers, pesticides and tobacco seeds," said Mohamad, vice president of Yogyakarta's office of the Indonesian Marketing Association.
The farmers, however, are not only skilled in buying and selling. They also hold festivities after the harvest. During the festivities, there would be shadow puppet shows and traditional dances.
The success story of the tobacco business, however, is not reflected in other areas, such as education, health or the environment.
Many children in Bulu, Parakan and Ngadirejo districts refuse to go on to higher education after graduating from junior high school.
"It's ironic. They are wealthy but don't want to go to college, not even senior high school ...," Mohamad said.
Gunawan admitted that being one of few university graduates in his village of Glapansari was hard. He said, there were fewer than 10 people out of some 3,000 residents in his village who had graduated from university.
"As a graduate I have only two choices: to find a good job in another place or to go back to the village to improve the tobacco business. If I fail to get a better job, my neighbors would say that there was no point for me to go to school if I could make my fortune from the tobacco business," he said.
On another note, it is not unusual to find children aged seven years or eight years with cigarettes in their hands.
"I won't forbid them to smoke. They are children of tobacco businessmen. The children help us promote the business," said Dahri, another Glapansari resident.
Mohamad said that tobacco farmers did not realize the business could not last forever.
"The threat of erosion and landslides is everywhere. But they refuse to change their farming methods, such as using terrace farming. It's not easy for them to accept others' suggestions, even coming from the regent."