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Nusa Penida farmers lack...nize | The Jakarta Post

Anton Muhajir
Anton Muhajir

Seaweed farming is a major industry on the Indonesian island of Nusa Penida, producing around 65% of Bali's seaweed. However, farmers there lack support and modern equipment, drying seaweed traditionally on mats rather than in driers. As a result, they are vulnerable to low prices from middlemen and have little bargaining power. Experts recommend that local governments provide training and funding support to help farmers transition to modern post-harvest handling and establish a processing plant, in order to improve product quality and give farmers more direct access to buyers. There is also a need to preserve seaweed farming areas from tourism development.

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2/28/2015 Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize | The Jakarta Post http://www.thebalidaily.com/2014-07-02/nusa-penida-farmers-lack-support-modernize.html 1/3 IN BRIEF Creating offering art at Goa Gajah Power lines to connect Sumatra-Java-Bali SIGHTSEEING A ramadhan culinary journey in Kampung Jawa The fasting month of Ramadhan always brings happiness and blessings to the residents of Kampung Jawa (Javanese village), another name for the hamlet Dusun Wanasari in Dauh Puri Kaja in North Denpasar. Saturday, February 28 2015, 14:41 PM Edition: Wednesday, July 02 2014 Enter Query Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize BY ANTON MUHAJIR ON 2014-07-02 Sunbathing: Harvested seaweed is sun dried on the beach. (BD/Anton Muhajir) Thanks to the abundant sunshine, Nusa Penida islet in Klungkung regency has become Balis major producer of seaweed, a hot commodity that enhances the lives of the local residents. A number of the tiny islands villages are renowned as top producers, such as Suana, Batununggal, Kutampi Kaler, Ped and Toyapakeh. On the neighboring islet of Nusa Lembongan, the village of Jungut also produces seaweed. Located in the open sea overlooking Lombok, Nusa Penida and its neighboring islets are considered the perfect location to cultivate seaweed, which has become an important ingredient in processed foods, drinks and cosmetics. The seaweed harvests are usually sent to Surabaya in East Java to be shipped to countries that include Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. According to data from the Coral Triangle Center (CTC), over the last few years, the majority of local residents have become seaweed farmers working on average an area of 1,000 to 1,500 square meters per person. This produces around 40 to 50 tons of cottonii and spinosum seaweeds every harvest (25 to 35 days). Nusa Penida produces around 65 percent of Balis seaweed. Based on data from the provincial Industry and Trade Agency, Balis total seaweed production reached 145,597 tons in 2013, a slight increase of 1 percent from the previous years 144,000 tons. Bali is one of the nine provinces in the country that produces seaweed. Despite its huge potential, most Nusa Penida seaweed farmers are facing classic problems post-harvest handling, and seaweed distribution and marketing. Made Sami, a small-scale farmer working a 150-sqm site, said that all the farmers on the island still dried their harvest in the traditional way on plastic mats on the ground in the sunshine.
2/28/2015 Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize | The Jakarta Post http://www.thebalidaily.com/2014-07-02/nusa-penida-farmers-lack-support-modernize.html 2/3 Selection: Local women inspect the harvested seaweed, searching for the best quality pieces to be used as seedlings. (BD/Anton Muhajir) This traditional drying technique leads to other materials, such as sand and stones, getting caught up in the seaweed, said Sami. Other problems also arise. Farmers have neither marketing and distribution capability nor market access, which makes them vulnerable to middlemen who buy their harvests at very low prices. Nyoman Candra, another farmer from Banjar Pengaut, shared his bad experiences. Farmers rely heavily on the services of middlemen. We cannot sell our harvests directly to buyers and exporters. Many said we should unite to sell our harvests jointly, Candra said. In the past, there was a farmers union, but it disbanded relatively quickly. Now, the middlemen have full control of the prices. We cannot try and bargain as they will just leave us. It is a take-it-or-not trade for us, added Chandra. The middlemen pay Rp 5,000 (42 US cents) per kilogram for low-quality dried spinosum seaweed, locally known as bulung. The price for the higher quality cottonii seaweed, or bulung gondrong in the local language, is Rp 15,000 per kg. Bulung gondrong seaweed is more expensive, but buyers are rare, Chandra said. Wayan Sukadana, chairman of the Nusa Penida Foundation, lamented that the condition of local seaweed farmers was quite pitiful. The biggest challenge for the farmers is post-harvest handling and marketing, Sukadana said. He identified three main solutions to the problem. Firstly, the local administration should provide technical and financial support for the farmers to manage their harvests. Training on post-harvest handling is crucial to allow them to change from the traditional system to a modern one, which in turn would improve the quality of their harvests, noted Sukadana. A lack of funding had prevented these farmers from constructing driers, called para-para, which could dry the seaweed more effectively. It was also important for the local administration to establish a seaweed processing plant on Nusa Penida. This way, farmers would no longer have to contact middlemen to market their harvests in Surabaya, Sukadana said. One more critical point was the governments commitment to preserve seaweed farms in Nusa Penida and not to move or close them to make way for tourist development projects, he warned. Tourism, he said, was also a challenge for seaweed farmers. This has already occurred on Nusa Lembongan, where hotels, villas and tourist facilities are eating up almost all the seaweed cultivation sites. I hope this will not happen in Nusa Penida. TOP
2/28/2015 Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize | The Jakarta Post http://www.thebalidaily.com/2014-07-02/nusa-penida-farmers-lack-support-modernize.html 3/3 Choose an Edition 2 July 2014 Go CONTACT Jl. Tukad Musi VI/17 Panjer Kav. 1 Renon, Denpasar Bali Call. 0361-265436, 265437, 265384 Fax. 0361-223690 Email: jpbali@indosat.net.id Copyright 息 2012 PT. Bina Media Tenggara. All rights reserved.

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Nusa Penida farmers lack...nize | The Jakarta Post

  • 1. 2/28/2015 Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize | The Jakarta Post http://www.thebalidaily.com/2014-07-02/nusa-penida-farmers-lack-support-modernize.html 1/3 IN BRIEF Creating offering art at Goa Gajah Power lines to connect Sumatra-Java-Bali SIGHTSEEING A ramadhan culinary journey in Kampung Jawa The fasting month of Ramadhan always brings happiness and blessings to the residents of Kampung Jawa (Javanese village), another name for the hamlet Dusun Wanasari in Dauh Puri Kaja in North Denpasar. Saturday, February 28 2015, 14:41 PM Edition: Wednesday, July 02 2014 Enter Query Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize BY ANTON MUHAJIR ON 2014-07-02 Sunbathing: Harvested seaweed is sun dried on the beach. (BD/Anton Muhajir) Thanks to the abundant sunshine, Nusa Penida islet in Klungkung regency has become Balis major producer of seaweed, a hot commodity that enhances the lives of the local residents. A number of the tiny islands villages are renowned as top producers, such as Suana, Batununggal, Kutampi Kaler, Ped and Toyapakeh. On the neighboring islet of Nusa Lembongan, the village of Jungut also produces seaweed. Located in the open sea overlooking Lombok, Nusa Penida and its neighboring islets are considered the perfect location to cultivate seaweed, which has become an important ingredient in processed foods, drinks and cosmetics. The seaweed harvests are usually sent to Surabaya in East Java to be shipped to countries that include Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. According to data from the Coral Triangle Center (CTC), over the last few years, the majority of local residents have become seaweed farmers working on average an area of 1,000 to 1,500 square meters per person. This produces around 40 to 50 tons of cottonii and spinosum seaweeds every harvest (25 to 35 days). Nusa Penida produces around 65 percent of Balis seaweed. Based on data from the provincial Industry and Trade Agency, Balis total seaweed production reached 145,597 tons in 2013, a slight increase of 1 percent from the previous years 144,000 tons. Bali is one of the nine provinces in the country that produces seaweed. Despite its huge potential, most Nusa Penida seaweed farmers are facing classic problems post-harvest handling, and seaweed distribution and marketing. Made Sami, a small-scale farmer working a 150-sqm site, said that all the farmers on the island still dried their harvest in the traditional way on plastic mats on the ground in the sunshine.
  • 2. 2/28/2015 Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize | The Jakarta Post http://www.thebalidaily.com/2014-07-02/nusa-penida-farmers-lack-support-modernize.html 2/3 Selection: Local women inspect the harvested seaweed, searching for the best quality pieces to be used as seedlings. (BD/Anton Muhajir) This traditional drying technique leads to other materials, such as sand and stones, getting caught up in the seaweed, said Sami. Other problems also arise. Farmers have neither marketing and distribution capability nor market access, which makes them vulnerable to middlemen who buy their harvests at very low prices. Nyoman Candra, another farmer from Banjar Pengaut, shared his bad experiences. Farmers rely heavily on the services of middlemen. We cannot sell our harvests directly to buyers and exporters. Many said we should unite to sell our harvests jointly, Candra said. In the past, there was a farmers union, but it disbanded relatively quickly. Now, the middlemen have full control of the prices. We cannot try and bargain as they will just leave us. It is a take-it-or-not trade for us, added Chandra. The middlemen pay Rp 5,000 (42 US cents) per kilogram for low-quality dried spinosum seaweed, locally known as bulung. The price for the higher quality cottonii seaweed, or bulung gondrong in the local language, is Rp 15,000 per kg. Bulung gondrong seaweed is more expensive, but buyers are rare, Chandra said. Wayan Sukadana, chairman of the Nusa Penida Foundation, lamented that the condition of local seaweed farmers was quite pitiful. The biggest challenge for the farmers is post-harvest handling and marketing, Sukadana said. He identified three main solutions to the problem. Firstly, the local administration should provide technical and financial support for the farmers to manage their harvests. Training on post-harvest handling is crucial to allow them to change from the traditional system to a modern one, which in turn would improve the quality of their harvests, noted Sukadana. A lack of funding had prevented these farmers from constructing driers, called para-para, which could dry the seaweed more effectively. It was also important for the local administration to establish a seaweed processing plant on Nusa Penida. This way, farmers would no longer have to contact middlemen to market their harvests in Surabaya, Sukadana said. One more critical point was the governments commitment to preserve seaweed farms in Nusa Penida and not to move or close them to make way for tourist development projects, he warned. Tourism, he said, was also a challenge for seaweed farmers. This has already occurred on Nusa Lembongan, where hotels, villas and tourist facilities are eating up almost all the seaweed cultivation sites. I hope this will not happen in Nusa Penida. TOP
  • 3. 2/28/2015 Nusa Penida farmers lack support to modernize | The Jakarta Post http://www.thebalidaily.com/2014-07-02/nusa-penida-farmers-lack-support-modernize.html 3/3 Choose an Edition 2 July 2014 Go CONTACT Jl. Tukad Musi VI/17 Panjer Kav. 1 Renon, Denpasar Bali Call. 0361-265436, 265437, 265384 Fax. 0361-223690 Email: jpbali@indosat.net.id Copyright 息 2012 PT. Bina Media Tenggara. All rights reserved.