When the news that farmers in Purworejo, Central Java, were burning their rice fields in anger and demanding compensation for their failed harvests hit the national headlines, calls for the President to sack his gullible advisor Heru Lelono once again surfaced.

Not long ago, people wanted his scalp for making a fool of the President with the "Blue Energy turn-water-into-oil" hoax that contradicted the first law of thermodynamics. While there is no doubt that Heru Lelono used his proximity to the President to pull certain strings, making his projects nepotistic in nature, the tragic-comic fate of his projects do warrant him a little human sympathy.

Heru Lelono and his company reportedly had an agreement with the Purworejo farmers concerning the planting of the Supertoy HL2 seed. This seed -- which was found later not to be a new seed at all -- was said to be capable of yielding up to 15 tons of dry grain per hectare.

That is an enormous yield -- much better than even the high-yield modern hybrids. Apparently, the agreement with the village peasants included a clause in which the farmers would receive compensation if the Supertoy HL2 seed did not perform as promised.

As a rice farmer myself, I understand completely why the Purworejo farmers jumped at the opportunity to plant Supertoy HL2, even though I doubt they really believed the claims that it could produce up to 15 tons per hectare. Though politicians and scientists often state that a certain seed will give a certain yield, farmers know that every field is different.

Different fields have a different amount of terrace banks (galengan) so a hectare on a slope has less planting area than a hectare of flat fields. Apart from the presence or absence of various pests, the weather is a most unpredictable major factor that influences a harvest. Therefore, a prediction of a yield is always only a figure on paper.

The Supertoy HL2 seed is a cross between two indigenous seeds which are known for their superior taste and texture -- not for their yield -- namely the long-grain Rojolele and the shorter-grained Pandanwangi or Menthik Wangi. When rice farmers plant different varieties of seed in adjacent fields, nature will automatically do some crossbreeding.

When crosses between two different aged rice varieties occur, the farmer has a problem because it matures either before or after the rest of the field, making it difficult to harvest. Rojolele rice takes around six months to mature while the Pandanwangi type only needs a little over three months, so a good cross between the two similar tasting types of rice should be one that has the long grain and superior taste of the Rojolele but with the maturing age of the Pandanwangi.

However, it would make much more sense to cross either Rojolele or Pandanwangi with a high-yielding, short-aged variety, to produce a seed that has the positive characteristics of both its parents: Good tasting, high yielding and short age.

In close to ideal conditions both Rojolele and Pandanwangi also produce good yields, because the term "good' is of course, relative. Usually anything over five tons per hectare for indigenous varieties is called a very good harvest indeed.

Farmers all over Java still plant the delicious local varieties of rice even though they yield less than modern hybrids, because local varieties have the advantage of being already adapted to the environment. They are not dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides and they taste much better.

Thus, a low yield is compensated by a smaller production cost and a higher selling price after harvest. On the other hand, because there are so many uncontrollable factors that determine a harvest, planting high-yield hybrids does not necessarily mean the farmer will have a great harvest either, even though investments in chemical fertilizers and pesticides may be high.

Would I believe it if I was told that a new breed created by crossing Rojolele and Pandanwangi could yield up to 15 tons per hectare? In theory you may be able to get those yields, but in practice, it would be very difficult.

In theory, the potential yield of a rice variety can be very high, especially if the tests are done in ideal laboratory conditions. An ideal situation would be a luscious and fertile field where there is ample sunlight and plenty of water and no pests.

However, normal farmers' fields are not in ideal conditions. Therefore, if someone were to challenge me to bet whether or not a given seed could produce 15 tons of rice per hectare on a normal sawah (paddy field), I would bet negative.

If someone asked me to plant a seed and promised to pay me compensation if the seed failed to yield 15 tons per hectare I would happily take the seed and plant it. So many factors determine a yield that it is virtually impossible and practically useless to predict in advance what an unplanted crop might yield at harvest time.

If a city slicker comes to me and asks me to believe that a certain seed will produce over three times the normal yield of my fields, and asks me to plant his super-seed and promises to pay me compensation if that yield is not reached, of course I would take his offer. I would be thinking that it would be more convenient for me to aim for the compensation rather than the harvest.

As a farmer, I have a word or two of advice for politicians and rice scientists: Please refrain from promising farmers a certain high yield, as it is misleading. If you ask farmers to plant your seed with the promise of giving a handsome compensation in case of a failed harvest, do not be surprised if we aim for the fixed amount of compensation rather than the unpredictable harvest.

We might be peasants but we are not stupid, and it is obvious that organizing a failed harvest is much easier than trying for a bountiful one.

The writer is an artist and former journalist. He can be reached at bramn4bi@yahoo.com

Popular

Volcano erupts in North Sulawesi, hundreds evacuated

Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

Ramadan boosts consumer confidence, retail sales