‘Salak’ farmers seek support from tourist industry

Blame it on the weather. Farmers of salak (Salacca zalacca) in Sibetan village, Karangasem regency, East Bali, have to swallow bitter pills as their harvest yields would likely drop by 50 percent compared to production in previous years.

“We are facing the long rainy season, which directly affects the quality of the fruit. The production and the price of the fruit would fall drastically,” said I Nyoman Sujana, head of Banjar Dukuh Sibetan Cooperative Unit, which has called upon hotels and restaurants to purchase their produce.

Sibetan is known as the most prolific salak producer in Bali. Salak, known as snakefruit because of its reddish-brown scaly skin, is native to Indonesia. It is a species of palm tree that grows to heights of between 3 and 6 meters. The fruit can be very sweet, dry and crumbly or moist and crunchy.

“We also call for travel agencies to invite their guests to salak plantations here in Sibetan as part of an agro-tourism package,” Sujana added.

Sibetan’s farmers cultivate tropical fruits and commodities such as salak, coffee, cocoa, cassava and cloves, among others.

Bali, like other parts of Indonesia, is faced with uncertain and extreme weather, which impairs growth of agricultural products such as rice, vegetables and fruit.

“The price of salak dropped almost 70 percent from Rp 8,000 to only Rp 1,500 per kilogram,” Sujana said.

Every harvest season, a farmer may produce at least 1 ton of salak. Large-scale farmers may produce 30 tons each harvest.

Sibetan farmers make various food and beverages using salak as a base ingredient.