Vegetable gardens float in Yoboi village

Vegetable gardens float in Yoboi village

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Don't be discouraged, even if your garden is a swamp -- literally
-- you can still grow vegetables.

Floating vegetable gardens are not an unusual sight for the
women of Yoboi village, Sentani, which is located in the coastal
area of Lake Sentani, Papua's largest lake. The area is 80,188
hectares in total, including 9,285 hectares of water.

Old boats are filled with soil and vegetables are grown in
them, a practice that has been going on for years.

Yoboi village is accessible only by boat, as it is located by
the side of the lake, swampy land where many sago trees grow.

If you take a Johnson boat from Yahim harbor, paying Rp 1,000
for the trip, you will get there in around 15 minutes.

Yahim harbor is about two kilometers from Sentani, a town
about 45 kilometers away from Jayapura, the capital of Papua
province.

Yoboi village is located to the east of Yobe and Ifale, two
neighboring villages with church buildings that look imposing
from afar.

One bright morning, The Jakarta Post, accompanied by Herlina
Tokoro, a staff member of the Jayapura Development Planning
Board, who is a native of Yoboi, and Udin, who is an employee of
the Sentani administration, took a boat tour around Lake Sentani
to observe the floating vegetable gardens.

"It's nice weather. The lake is calm so we can sit comfortably
in our boat," said Herlina, who obtained her masters degree from
Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Several bulbul flew low close to the surface of the lake. Fish
went by, as well as boats transporting busy fishermen and manned
by some playful local children.

Close to Yoboi village, we could clearly see green plots of
vegetables.

When we got to the wooden bridge -- the only way of moving
around the floating village, other than on water -- we could see
that some of the vegetables were ready for harvest, while, in
other areas, seeds had just been sown.

Most of the vegetable gardens are directly in front of the
locals' simple houses. The walls are generally made of sago stems
and midribs. The roofs of some houses are made of sago palm,
while other roofs are made of sheets of corrugated iron.

The plants -- mustard greens, water spinach, spinach,
tomatoes, chili peppers and papaya -- are grown in garden boxes
made of sago stems and midribs.

About four or five stems and midribs are arranged to form a
square or rectangle and then soil and natural fertilizer is laid
down. A few garden beds, however, are contained by boards.

"When we use sago stems and midribs we can easily collect them
from the sago trees around our village. If we use boards, we have
to buy them," said Ibu Selvi Puraro.

At first, only one or two families grew vegetables. Later, in
1990, when Ibu Bas Suebu was chairperson of the family welfare
motivation team for Papua province, floating vegetable planting
became the activity of all rural women.

"The family welfare program manages dozens of projects and one
of them is a gardening project. We do not have yards in Yoboi
village. So, Ibu Suebu got the idea of introducing and developing
floating vegetable gardens," said Chris Tokoro, chief of Sentani
district.

In 2002, thanks to its floating vegetable garden, Yoboi
village won first prize in a contest for family welfare
activities in Jayapura.

The vegetables from Yoboi village are free from pests and are
grown with organic fertilizer.

"Although scientific research is yet to be done on sago mulch,
the villagers are convinced it contains a substance that kills
pests. They also believe that dried algae and water hyacinth can
be used as fertilizer for their plants.
When the Post arrived at the village, a group of women were
busy collecting algae from the lake, precisely from under the
floating gardens.

"We dry this algae and then mix it with soil and sago mulch in
the beds. After a few days, we can begin to grow vegetable plants
there," said Ibu Terina Sokoy.

Yoboi villagers do not sell their vegetables, but growing them
means a savings of Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 a day. "We don't need
to buy vegetables from the market," said Agus Waly, chief of the
local neighborhood community.

About 250 people, or 47 families, live in Yoboi village and
most earn their livings as fishermen. In general, life in this
village is just like life in any other coastal village.

When you are there, besides the floating vegetable gardens,
you may also be interested in the church. It is the largest
building in the village.

The walls of the church are made of wood that is made to look
like red bricks. The floor is made of planks, while the roof is
made of iron sheets.

The lake is very important to the villagers. They bathe and
wash their clothes there. They also use it as a toilet, and a
source of clean water.

In the past, locals collected water from the center of the
lake. However, when research suggested the water contained e-coli
bacteria -- the cause of diarrhea -- the Jayapura administration
provided the villagers with four water pumps to fulfill their
need for clean water.

The regental administration has also provided the village with
a power generator, so that the villagers can enjoy electricity.

Thanks to the power generator, locals can now watch TV and
listen to the radio. "Locals usually gather in front of their
houses to watch the news or a live broadcast of a soccer match,"
said Toni Wally.

The children of the village are not afraid of water. They
learn how to swim at a very young age. "Water is their
playground; that's why virtually every child can swim," said
Herlina.

Now efforts are being made to increase the productivity of the
floating vegetable gardens, to raise the income of the locals.

"We are planning to sell the vegetables to supermarkets. In
that way, floating gardening will become a source of income for
them. Very soon, Yoboi village will be a major vegetable
supplier," said Chris Tokoro, hopefully.