Juria, Champion Among Coffee Variants

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Agustinus Songsi, a coffee farmer in Uluwae village of East Poco Ranaka district, East Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, shows a regenerating stump of a Juria coffee tree on Saturday (10/2/2018). The Juria variety, which was first cultivated about 50 years ago, is now rarely found because they have been replaced with the Arabica and Robusta varieties.

Hunting for coffee on Flores Island is incomplete without a visit to the Colol Highlands in East Manggarai regency. This is where local coffee farmers cultivate the renowned Juria coffee, said to be the oldest coffee variant in Greater Manggarai.

“The Juria coffee is mostly cultivated on the slopes because it is one of the oldest coffee varieties cultivated in Colol,” coffee farmer Agustinus Songsi, 45, said in Uluwae village of East Poco Ranaka district, East Manggarai district. He was accompanying Kompas on Saturday (10/2/2018) at the Juria plantation, located 1,200-1,400 meters above sea level.

The Juria coffee plant has a straight trunk that reaches a height of 4-5 meters and small leaves. The branches are close, and the plant is not as lush as the Arabica or Robusta plant. The beans are big and give off a sharp aroma when they are roasted.

Juria was first planted in Colol in the 1950s. Rudolf Kawur, a local person who had migrated to Makassar, South Sulawesi, brought in the seeds. From just a handful of seeds, the Juria grew into a favorite coffee variant among farmers. It has a sweet flavor with traces of chocolate, melon and peanut. The Juria is believed to be an Arabica variant.

Of the historical 10,000-hectare Juria plantation in Greater Manggarai, only around 60 hectares remain today. Most of the Juria has been replaced by Arabica and Robusta, which have more slender trunks. Moreover, the Juria plant does not bear fruit every year, and can be harvest every two years, at best.

Respecting ancestors

Manggarai Coffee Farmers Association (Asnikom) chair Ludovikus Vaderman said the Juria plant would shed all its leaves as it matured, leaving behind only the coffee cherries for harvesting. When harvesting a 5-meter-tall Juria plant, the farmers must climb up a long bamboo pole that is propped against the plant’s highest branches.

Local farmers view the Juria plants as sacred, one with the land and their ancestors. Juria cultivation in other regions have never produced results as good as the original plants. “We are also prohibited from cutting down the plants our ancestors planted. We do not have that right, as the plants were the source of our ancestors’ livelihood,” said Agustinus.

Before the Juria variant entered Colol, the local farmers had already been cultivating coffee since the 1920s from seeds Dutch colonial officers had brought in. Despite its special flavor, Juria was sold for the same price as other coffee variants, at Rp 25,000 (US$1.78)-Rp 35,000 per kg of green beans.

The price of Juria coffee surged to Rp 100,000/kg after Asnikom was established in 2012. The association promotes Juria coffee and connects farmers to coffee traders.

Agustinus is among the farmers that are profiting from Juria. In 2015, he harvested 100 kg of Juria beans from 1 hectare and made Rp 10 million. The Juria plants did not fruit in 2016 or 2017. “This year, I predict there will be another 100 kg,” said Agustinus.

However, because of the infrequent harvest, many farmers have left the Juria behind and planted other coffee variants instead. Measures must be taken to ensure that the Juria coffee does not become a variety of the past.

(GREGORIUS M FINESSO, VIDELIS JEMALI)