0 Trader stays faithful to local fruits

With the arrival of the Balinese Hindu’s Pagerwesi religious day on Wednesday, demand for fruit rose. For the Balinese, fruit is an essential part of their offerings during Pagerwesi, just like for their other religious celebrations. For dozens of years, Ni Nyoman Ngawit, a fruit wholesaler at the wholesale market near Badung traditional market, has continued her loyalty to local Balinese fruit instead of joining others in selling the imported fruit that nowadays floods the island’s markets. 

The 60-year-old woman acknowledged that these days imported fruit dominated the local markets, because it was in huge demand. “The price of imported fruit continues to soar, but the Balinese keep on buying it. I never want to use imported fruit [in my offerings], but my children and grandchildren always force me to use some,” laughed Ngawit. While other wholesalers stock imported fruit from China and Australia, Ngawit insists on stocking local produce. 

“I have known the local farmers and the local fruit collectors in Bali for many years. If I stop distributing their harvests, it would cause misery for them.” Thus, she always purchases local fruit directly from the local farmers at the fruit auction centers in the traditional markets in the villages. During the salak (snake fruit) harvesting season, Ngawit goes to Telaga market in Sibetan, Karangasem regency, which has the largest salak plantations in Bali. 

“I have many customers in those markets,” said Ngawit, showing her five buckets of sweet Balinese salak in her warehouse. The price of Balinese salak at the wholesale level is Rp 15,000 (US$1.55) per kilogram, with a minimum purchase of 5 kg. At the supermarket and souvenir centers, the fruit costs double that price. Famous local produce from Bali includes salak, 90 percent of which is harvested in Karangasem, manggis (mangosteen) from Tabanan and the Kintamani orange from Bangli regency. 

“Their prices are very erratic, fluctuating depending on the season and the size of the harvest.” One of the salak farmers at Sibetan, I Nyoman Sujana, said that the peak of the salak harvest this year would arrive in March, due to the recent disturbed weather. Head of Bali trade agency, Ni Wayan Kusumawathi, acknowledged that although there were no specific regulations to protect local fruit against the domination of imported fruit, local Balinese fruit was still readily available in the fruit markets. 

“The quality of local fruit has been increasing as well, so much of it is being exported overseas,” said Kusumawathi. The local administration, she added, had always been supportive of local farmers, as shown in the tourism regulation that stipulates the tourist industry has to prioritize using local farm produce. When asked for the figures for the local fruit trade, however, Kusumawathi, said her agency did not have any such data, blaming the lack of integration of the trade centers. 

Kusumawathi also acknowledged that there was no special scheme to encourage the trade of local fruit. “The trade system for local fruit is at the auction market, where buyers come to meet with the farmers directly,” she said, stating that the auctioning was conducted at the trade agency office on a monthly basis.

source : bali daily