Waiting for Reach of Leading Research

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

A man smells ground coffee at the Coffee and Cacao Research Center (Puslitkoka) in Jember, East Java, on Thursday, Jan 11. Coffee from across the country is tested at this laboratory.

Do not be dubious about the results from studies on domestic coffee. Amid the formidable challenges expected the world coffee industry, local experts have posited several solutions. Unfortunately, the reach of local research is still limited, which has left farmers to walk alone.

In an effort to produce superior seeds, it has become a habit among farmers in Dampit, Malang regency, East Java, to cross coffee plants on their own through grafting. The bottom part of the plant comes from the BP 308 robusta variety that is proven to have strong roots. The upper part is grafted from the plant that produces the preferred flavor. If they want coffee with a jackfruit aroma, the answer is the Exelsa plant; if they want quick harvests and thin-skinned fruits, they will opt for the tugu sari and Malang putih varieties.

Crossing is often effective to produce better results, but crossing coffee varieties have recently raised problems. Many new hybrid varieties do not have clear origins. "The term is ‘mixed variety’," Sukri, a Dampit farmer, said in January.

Experimenting with crossing coffee plants is common at a number of coffee production centers. In Goloworok village of Ruteng, Manggarai regency in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, research and practice are mostly experiential. The common method for producing hybrid coffee seeds is done through grafting seedlings. The resulting varieties are still derivative, and only the farmers possess the new hybrid seeds.

Farmers also rarely receive guidance from research into superior seeds. Agustinus Abu, 45, head of the Wajah Baru Goloworok Farmers Group, once received superior seed assistance from the local administration, with seeds provided from the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Center (Puslitkoka) in Jember, East Java. The institute produces “super root” seeds.

The plants that develop “super roots” can apparently adapt to arid, marginal land. The research findings on these seeds are said to be an answer to the challenge of global warming on coffee productivity. The seedlings grown from these “super root” seeds are even claimed to be resistant to nematodes because of rapid root regeneration. With careful tending, these plants are able to produce more than 2 tons of coffee beans per hectare.

The super root seeds are a result of crossing superior Robusta and Arabica varieties. The roots are selected from the Robusta because they have more branches, while the upper part of Arabica plants produces coffee fruits that are richer in aroma and flavor.

Various research

Since its establishment in 1911, Puslitkoka has conducts a wide variety of research into coffee, ranging from mapping areas suitable for coffee cultivation to boosting productivity.

Puslitkoka head Misnawi said the institute was trying to reach out to farmers by establishing satellite research centers. It had also established cooperation with local administrations, including Bondowoso and East Java, as well as Kintamani, Bali.

In Kintamani, farmers attained the first geographical coffee index in the country, while mentoring in Bondowoso gave birth to the Ijen-Raung Bondowoso coffee variety that has penetrated the European market.

However, it is unlikely the Puslitkoka can progress further on its own. In the midst of its high spirit to develop Nusantara coffee, the institute is independently funded. It must finance research activities, office administration and human resources development from its own pocket. Besides research, it relies on funding to organize training and certification workshops.

With regard to the research results and innovation of coffee cultivation technology, president director Teguh Wahyudi of plantation research company PT Riset Perkebunan Nusantara (RPN) said Indonesia was superior compared to other major coffee producers such as Brazil and Vietnam.

Despite its superiority, Indonesia\'s weakness lies in its non-optimal utilization of research results. "We have research results for all that is needed to develop coffee. It is just a matter of implementation," said Teguh.

Many research studies focused on boosting coffee productivity to overcome soil saturation and climate change impacts. Teguh observed that at most regional production centers for coffee, the soil intake of fertilizer and water was low. As a result, the soil had minimal nutritional content, which caused low coffee productivity.

The poor dissemination of research results has led to production centers for Nusantara coffee developing without land suitability analysis or production cost estimates. As a result, many coffee products of a single region could be very good, but did not support farmers’ welfare, as their profits were absorbed to cover production costs.

The Coordinating Economy Ministry’s data shows that post-harvest logistics and distribution account for 30 percent of total coffee production costs. Compare this with Vietnam, where logistics and distribution is only 8 percent. Effective budgetary allocation to cover fertilizer, water and seed supply will have a positive impact on the quantity and quality of coffee.

In fact, according to Teguh, the research of RPN and Puslitkoka provided clear guidelines on coffee cultivation standards. For example, one coffee plant required a minimum 1.5 kilograms of fertilizer and 100 liters of water per year. In reality, many standards were not met.

Indonesian research into coffee is more comprehensive than the research in Vietnam. However, Vietnam has successfully applied its research in the field and optimized its implementation of coffee cultivation standards. The result is that the country became the world\'s third largest coffee producer in just 20 years.

The Vietnamese government has role of very central role in coffee production, successfully boosting robusta coffee productivity since enacting the Doi Moi economic reform’s agricultural sector policy in 1986. The policy allows farmers to make profits through subsidies and tax incentives. "Even when world coffee prices fall to a certain level, the government takes the subsidy step," said Lin Che Wei, a policy advisor at the Office of the Coordinating Economy Minister.

In 1986-2017, Vietnam’s coffee production increased at an average growth of 16 percent per year, whereas Indonesia’s coffee production has tended toward stagnant growth of only 0.2 percent per year over the last 8 years.

Budget

Research is still limited by local budgets. Researcher Khalid of the Agricultural Technology Development Agency (BPTP) in Aceh revealed that the region’s coffee seed research budget still depended on assistance from the central government and international funding. The high budgetary need is caused by the fact that the research takes a long time.

In fact, long-term research is needed to develop superior local seeds, ranging from tests on coffee varieties to taste tests with cluster analysis, and research into productivity potential. There are also additional susceptibility tests on pests and disease and their impacts on stable production.

Khalid experienced the lengthy research process when he was studied the superiority of the Gayo 1 and Gayo 2 varieties. The research took five years from 2006 to 2010 and cost about Rp 300 million. In the end, the Gayo 1 and Gayo 2 were designated as alternative seeds.

The Office of the Coordinating Economy Minister’s road map for coffee points to seed variables as a key factor in determining opportunities in optimal coffee production. In the short term, the government may adopt a seed certification policy. So far, low productivity has been caused by the use of derivate seeds.

In the medium term, technological innovation was necessary to address the problems of each coffee variety. Seed research and development would be encouraged through greater support for research institutes and universities in the plantation sector.

It is very important to bring farmers and researchers together at the plantations, as research is the determinant for whether Nusantara coffee development would advance or decline. If the results of research into superior seeds are not adopted, the efforts to boost coffee production will be a mere dream.

(ITA/NIT/DIA/GRE)