Growing Fruit Trees, Conserving Nature

Achmad Darisman has encouraged over 1,400 farmers to grow various perennial plants, especially fruit trees, on hundreds of hectares of land.

KOMPAS/DWI BAYU RADIUS

Achmad Darisman

Achmad Darisman, 54, is acknowledged as a key figure who has successfully intensified environmental conservation in Pati, Central Java, through the Trees4Trees program. He has encouraged over 1,400 farmers to grow various perennial plants, especially fruit trees, on hundreds of hectares of land.

Darisman was observing different fruit plant seedlings about 40 centimeters tall in the nursery plantation in Wedarijaksa village, Wedarijaksa district, Pati regency. There were the seedlings of mangosteen, avocado, soursop, ngapi nut, rose apple, durian, stink bean, mango, wood apple and pucung (Pangium edule) trees. These seedlings were grown by the technique of twig grafting.

“Usually, seedlings are distributed to partners in the early rainy season or from October to December,” Darisman, the cultivator of fruit plants and a Trees4Trees consultant, said on Wednesday (7/7/2021).

Trees4Trees is a program initiated by Yayasan Bumi Hijau Lestari in 2007 across 16 regencies in Central Javan and West Java. Through the Trees4Trees program, the nonprofit foundation has distributed various plant seedlings with economic value since 2008.

“Most of them are mango, teak, mahogany, chinaberry, iron redwood, Indian rosewood and yellow mimosa trees,” said Yayasan Bumi Hijau Lestari program coordinator Novita Diah Arianti.

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The Trees4Trees program began in Semarang regency, Central Java, before covering other regencies. So far, around 1.93 million trees have been grown, 144,157 of which bear various kinds of fruit. In total, 12,605 farmers are involved in this program. Meanwhile, 2,583 hectares of land have been planted.

In Pati, Darisman is a key figure who has succeeded in rallying a lot of people to join the Trees4Trees program. Since his official affiliation with the Trees4Trees program in 2012, he has assembled 1,415 farmers as partners in 18 villages across five districts with a total area of about 477 ha.

KOMPAS/DWI BAYU RADIUS

Achmad Darisman

The seedlings already planted in Pati have totaled 429,900, of which 44,094 are fruit plants. The remainder are nonfruit plants with high economic value, like clove, teak, mahogany and yellow mimosa. Some of the seedlings were planted in 2008, before Darisman took part in the Trees4Trees program.

Thanks to the greening program, villages in Pati are now lush green and shady. In Gunungsari village, Tlogowungu district, for instance, soursop, avocado and mangosteen trees are growing luxuriantly. They were grown in 2017 and are now 10 meters and 1.5 m in height, respectively.

From the trees, farmers as partners have started harvesting their fruits. Some of them have 50 to 100 mangosteen trees. Each of the trees produces 25-50 kilograms of mangosteen per harvest. The price per kg was around Rp 45,000 (US$3.10) in March.

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A number of farmers treat their fruit plants as a buffer against falling prices of other agricultural commodities like coffee. This way, they still earn an income from their fruit harvests.

“I also grow ginger, rose apple and turmeric plants,” said Waridi, chairman of the Gunungsari Indah Farmers’ Group.

Along with 200 other farmers, he has become a Trees4Trees partner through Darisman’s encouragement.

Suspected of deception

Darisman is not a new practitioner of agroforestry. He built his career in a forestry company in East Kalimantan Timur for 15 years. He later chose to quit his job in 2007 to spend more time with his wife and children.

“It’s hard to raise children from afar,” said Darisman, who returned to Pati thereafter.

He bred cows and cultivated soft-flesh coconuts until 2011. In 2012, he joined the Trees4Trees program, initially as field manager. Through this program, he strived to arouse the enthusiasm of residents to get them actively involved in the greening and nature conservation program.

When I visited, a farmer said, ‘This is yet another smart guy coming to deceive us’. I was shocked.

Originally, only 100 farmers became his partners. After years of hard work, the number of farmers assembled kept increasing to exceed 1,400.

The achievement was not easily gained. He often experienced rejection from residents.

“When I visited, a farmer said, ‘This is yet another smart guy coming to deceive us’. I was shocked,” recalled Darisman.

KOMPAS/DWI BAYU RADIUS

Achmad Darisman

Residents were then suspicious of being treated as mere consumers of agricultural products.

“Farmers feared trickery. They had been given seedlings, but it was just a trick [by suppliers] with the actual aim of selling drugs and fertilizers, the results of which were unsatisfactory,” said Darisman, relating the farmers’ skeptical attitude at the time.

Another constraint was that the cultivation method he introduced could not always be readily accepted by farmers. They trusted the method handed down for generations more.

“If their grandfathers and fathers succeeded, they would be convinced. So, an example [of success] is needed,” he said.

To this end, Darisman managed his own nursery plantation to provide them with evidence. He invited farmers who were still doubtful to come to his plantation. Gradually, the local residents became convinced.

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Darisman didn’t just distribute seedlings. He would first check the feasibility of potential recipients. They were asked to submit a photocopy of their ID cards and annual tax returns (SPPT).

“Farmers were also photographed and their land inspected, surveyed and numbered, with their positions determined by GPS,” he said.

When he met with farmers, Darisman was asked to provide various plant seedlings. He tried to explain that the seedlings requested were not always fit for their land because of the altitude and other factors.

“Even if they grow, their productivity would be low. The taste of their fruit may be disappointing,” he explained.

Darisman also found that not everything he instructed was followed by farmers.

“When I asked them to sparsely grow their plants for optimal harvests, they didn’t do it. They only thought that with a lot of trees, more money would be earned,” he said.

Darisman tried to patiently deal with farmers who were his partners. With his patience, slowly but surely, the Trees4Trees program gained success. He is further encouraging farmers to grow trees endemic to their villages.

“This aims at restoring the biological diversity of Pati regency. Such trees as cinnamon, candlenut and chestnut have begun to disappear, so they should be restored,” he added.

Achmad Darisman

Born: Pati regency, Central Java, Jan. 6, 1967

Wife: Sutinah, 51

Children: Two

Education:

- State Elementary School 2 of Pakis, Tayu, Pati regency (1974-1980)

- State Junior High School 1 of Tayu, Pati regency (1980-1983)

- Muhammadiyah High School 1 Yogyakarta (1983-1986)

- First degree in Forest Product Technology, Forestry School, IPB University (1986-1992).

This article was translated by Aris Prawira