Sanari said the story of pameling avocado in Wonorejo began when his father got an avocado from a fellow resident in the 1980s. The avocado was large in size with thick flesh and good flavor.
By
DEFRI WERDIONO
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KOMPAS/DEFRI WERDIONO
Sanari
Sanari was beaming. Within just a few minutes, the number one leading figure in East Java was going to set foot in the front yard of his humble home, Tuesday (30/3/2021), thanks to the popularity of pameling avocado.
Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Malang Regent M Sanusi, accompanied by their entourage, paid the visit as a token of appreciation to Sanari in Krajan Barat Hamlet, Wonorejo Village, Malang Regency.
In fact, officials’ visit to Wonorejo over pameling avocado cultivation was not unprecedented, with Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo having made his in September 2020,
Sanari happily welcomed them, harboring pride at the opportunity to show off the pameling avocado, the unusually jumbo sized fruit.
A pameling avocado weighs over one kilogram. In fact, a farmer set the record for producing the heaviest avocado at 2.7 kilograms.
Among the local community, Sanari is known as the inventor of pameling avocado. He has grown two pameling parent trees in the backyard that were developed about 22 years ago. Now some 10 meters tall, the trees have produced seedlings also planted in many places.
Sanari said the story of pameling avocado in Wonorejo began when his father got an avocado from a fellow resident in the 1980s. The avocado was large in size with thick flesh and good flavor.
When he learned about stem grafting techniques in 1997, Sanari tried to propagate seedlings from the same tree whose fruit had been given to his father.
KOMPAS/DEFRI WERDIONO
Pameling avocado fruit in the garden of Sanari, a farmer, in Wonorejo Village, Lawang District, Malang Regency, Tuesday (30/3/2021)
Of the five stems he grafted, two died and three gave buds. Two were grown in the backyard of his house and the other was at his relative’s in Talok Village, Turen District.
"It was just a trial. If alive, it meant my sustenance. Being dead would have deserved a trial again,” he said.
Before me, no one else (in Wonorejo) had done grafting.
The two trees, now 12 years old, have now becoming parent trees, replacing the grown out ones. The developed seedlings have given the kind of trees identical to the parents in terms that they produce a lot, large and good-tasted fruits.
"Before me, no one else (in Wonorejo) had done grafting," said Sanari, who learned cutting techniques from Trubus magazine.
Reminder
Sanari started to propagate the cultivation of pameling avocado in 2009. Some seedlings were given away to his friends for free.
Together with Tani Arjuno farmers’ group, he began to develop pameling avocado more extensively in 2014 after they had participated in a field training initiated by the East Java Agriculture Office. A tree can produce 5 to 7 quintals of avocado annually. "So it yields quite a lot," he said.
Sanari and fellow farmers have since started to sell avocado seedlings to those interested in developing avocado. The pameling avocado can now be found in a number of regions, including East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The pameling avocado certification process was conducted in 2018-2019. The name was given by then-Malang regent Rendra Kresna, which is a short form of Javanese word pangeling-eling meaning “reminder”.
According to Sanari, only through stem grafting system do the bred avocado trees produce fruits with identical characteristics to that of the parent tree. Meanwhile, the development of seedlings from the grains creates different characteristics.
"I have studied that. I have a tree bred from the grains and the fruit is not the same,” said Sanari, who often becomes a mentor and the person many farmers will turn to for consultation over avocado cultivation.
Wonorejo is now home to four avocado farmer groups, including Tani Arjuno and Karya Makmur, under the umbrella of Nakulo Farmers’ Group Association with more than 100 members.
Pameling avocado development has received support from many parties, including the East Java government, the Lawang Agricultural Consultation Center, the Ketindan Agricultural Training Center and the Malang Regency government.
What Sanari has done with Wonorejo farmers and other relevant parties has drawn attention from the central government. The Agriculture Ministry is targeting to develop pameling -- and also porang -- avocado cultivation on 2,000 hectares in the province. Soft loans for the farmers will also be provided.
During her visit to Sanari’s house, the governor disclosed the planned development in five regencies, which included Ponorogo, Tulungagung, Trenggalek, Probolinggo and Malang.
Budiar Anwar, head of the Food Crops Horticulture and Plantation Office of Malang Regency, hopes that Sanari and fellow farmers continue to work together to help improve agricultural areas.
Do not sit back because horticultural cultivation technology continues to develop.
He has urged them to preserve regional iconic produce, which he says might fade out if not preserved given the fact that farmers in other areas have also started to develop it.
"Do not sit back because horticultural cultivation technology continues to develop. If you are too complacent with your products, you will lag behind other farmer groups because farmers in other areas have also grown pameling in wider areas with more coverage in their transportation network,” he said.
