Asian Geographic Magazine Issue #73 (4/2010)

Villagers find profit in the sustainable production of essential oils in rural Indonesia

Finally some good environmental news from Indonesia to lighten the gloom: for one cottage industry operating in remote villages in the Indonesian islands of Bali, Java and Sulawesi the future looks encouraging..........and smells fabulous!

 

Farmers are finding an alternative to selling their land to villa developers or palm oil conglomerates by cultivating trees, bushes and grasses for the production of essential oils for the aromatherapy and perfume industries. Rather than just growing the plants and selling the raw product for low prices in the city, some enterprising individuals have taken the next step and set up distilleries to process the essential oils locally. By doing this, they increase the direct income for the village and provide employment, both skilled and unskilled, for local people, keeping the older generation occupied and giving the young the possibility of living and working close to home, rather than joining the exodus from the countryside.

 

We visited a new village distillery in Belok in the hills of central Bali just as the patchouli (nilam in Bahasa Indonesia) crop was being harvested.

Patchouli is a small bushy herb of the mint family and its essential oil is in huge demand worldwide:

·       in the cosmetics industry, where it is used as a fixative, slowing down the evaporation of the more volatile elements of a perfume;

·       in the food industry, where it acts as a good masking agent for unpleasant tastes and smells;

·       in Chinese medicine, which uses the herb to treat headaches, colds, nausea and abdominal pain, and

·       by aromatherapists who use it to combat stress and a wide variety of skin complaints.

The essential oil is extracted by placing the dried leaves in a large vat of water which is boiled to produce steam that carries the vaporized oil from the leaves through pipes where it cools, condensing into a viscous amber liquid with a sweet, rich, herbaceous and earthy scent.

We were shown around by the man behind the operation, a native of the village famed throughout Indonesia as a boxing coach, and a Javanese expert he has recruited to advise on the purchase and assembly of the equipment, supervise production and train the villagers. Outside, newly harvested leaves were arriving piled high on the back of pick-up trucks and workers were tending a nursery containing hundreds of small patchouli plants under plastic covers, while the mountain stream that provides the distillery’s water supply gurgled past them through the rice paddies. Inside, the vat was boiling away and perfume hung heavy in the air as the pipes delivered a continuous supply of precious oil under the eye of a watchful technician.

Our guides explained that, for the farmers, patchouli is an excellent choice as it does not need to be replanted each year and the leaves can be harvested every four to six months. Another huge advantage is that it is shade-tolerant so it can be grown under the forest canopy or in the shade of coconut trees or fruit orchards without the need for destructive land clearance.

Elsewhere in Indonesia many similar projects are harvesting and distilling essential oils from crops such as vetiver and citronella grasses, ginger roots, ylang-ylang flowers, nutmeg seeds, clove buds, peppercorns and cajeput leaves.

Hundreds of years ago, the ability of the fertile soil of this region and the labour of its people to produce rare and valuable crops led this region to be renowned as the “Spice Islands.” How wonderful that the same trees and plants that gave the region its fame then are still much coveted and providing gainful, sustainable employment today! 

 

 

 

 

Images:Ylang-ylang harvest, West Java: Patchouli Plantation, Central Bali

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