Villagers make their own oil

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)