Versatile 'Sibetan salak', Bali's premier fruit

Pariama Hutasoit, Contributor, Karang Asem, East Bali

If you ask anyone on Bali what the island's favorite fruit is, the answer will certainly be salak, otherwise known as snake fruit.

"Never leave Bali without tasting this sweet-and-sour fruit," said a farmer from Sibetan village, one of the island's well- known salak-producing centers.

Sibetan salak is believed to have grown on Balinese soil for 450 years, surviving a harsh and dry climate. The trees mostly grow in lowland areas and on mountain slopes.

Sibetan village is situated in Karang Asem regency, East Bali, which is about 83 kilometers east of Denpasar. The village is in one of the areas adjacent to the active volcano, Mount Agung, which last erupted in l963. Back then, the hot ash, lava and ensuing mud flows killed more than a thousand people.

But the eruption was a blessing in disguise for some nearby villages, as it has helped sustain the area's agriculture.

The name Sibetan salak was adopted from the village of the same name where the fruit was first cultivated.

Local villagers started to grow Sibetan salak in l980. There are 14 species of salak plants, but only Sibetan salak -- with its sweet and sour taste and dry meat -- has a high market value.

"We have grown 14 types of salak plants, 10 of which are of a rare species," said Nengah Supharta from the Dukuh hamlet in Sibetan village.

Each species of salak tree has different characteristics -- its taste, leaves, fruit shape and scent -- all vary.

Nengah said it was quite difficult to grow certain types of salak plants, such as the salak nenas (pineapple snake fruit) or salak kelapa (coconut snake fruit).

"By growing various types of salak plants, it is expected that within four or five years, visitors will be able to taste rare salak fruit," he said.

The majority of the hamlet's population of 427 earns a living by growing salak. The hamlet has developed as one of Sibetan's agrotourism centers.

Sibetan salak is a seasonal fruit. Farmers usually harvest the fruit twice a year between January and March, and then between August and September. During the harvest, a kilogram of salak goes for between Rp 4,000 and Rp 6,000.

The abundant production of salak once depreciated the price of salak at the local market. But thanks to assistance from the University of Udayana's Agricultural Technology Research Center, farmers at Dusun Dukuh are able to process salak into various products ranging from a sweet paste and jelly to chips and wine.

The production of salak wine, sold under the Sibetan brand, began in l999 with the support of the Wisnu Foundation, an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), and the Agricultural Research Center.

"We are helping them in the production of wine, including the tasting, bottling and hygienic processing of it," said I Made Suarnatha, the chairman of the Wisnu Foundation.

The foundation also helps market the wine for local consumption.

The Sibetan brand shows that the wine is produced by the entire community. "They are the legitimate holders of Sibetan's property rights. It is a kind of communal property rights," Suarnatha said.

In terms of quality, Sibetan wine is far from those produced in France or Australia. "It will be a long learning process," he said.

Sibetan wine, for instance, has eight percent alcohol compared to the 12 percent that is usually required for a liter of wine.

"We have to develop a new formula if we want to increase the alcoholic content," said Suarnatha.

At the moment, Sibetan farmers are struggling to obtain a license from the Ministry of Health to safely market their wine.

Each product should be registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and have a license from the Ministry of Health for health and safety reasons.

Therefore, they can only market Sibetan wine within a limited market.

"Instead of wine, we could write brem (Balinese alcoholic beverage) on our label," a farmer said. "Sibetan wine has the potential to be developed as a local wine that tastes the same as wine made from grapes. But the production system has to be improved to catch up with the current wine processing technology in western countries," Suarnatha said.

In Bali, there are a number of locally made wines, including Hatten Wine, produced from local grapes, and Indigo. Both brands are widely marketed in Bali and other places in Indonesia as well as abroad.

To open market opportunities for Sibetan farmers, the Wisnu Foundation has set up a village tourism network, which comprises four villages: Sibetan, Pelaga, Nusa Ceningan and Tenganan in Karang Asem.

"By establishing the network, farmers from the four villages can exchange and market their products among themselves," he said.

Sibetan farmers still have a long way to go to get recognition from local and international wine markets. But their tireless efforts to improve their lives and promote their village will encourage fellow farmers in other parts of Bali to do the same.