Villagers make their own oil

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: Skyrocketing prices of cooking oil have forced villagers in Banyumas to use traditional methods, such as producing their own coconut oil, to supplement their needs.

Suwarto, a farmer in Rawalo, said the villagers had no other alternative but to revert to traditional methods to survive despite the painstaking and troublesome process entailed.

He said villagers used copra to make the oil.

"Copra is left to spoil and then dried. The dried copra is compressed for its oil." He added he could get a half bottle of oil from five coconuts.

He said the price of regular palm oil for cooking was between Rp 6,000 to Rp 7,000 per kilogram in villages in the regency. (45)