The colonial powers once demanded a wipe of cloves grown by local people on the East Indonesian Islands of East Indonesian Island to protect their monopoly on prized crops. Today farmers say that the most serious threat to their plants is climate change.
“Today … rain is more. It is fine for planting, but it is uncertain for harvesting. It is often unpredictable,” 61 -year -old farmer Johar Mahmood told AFP.
Located on the fertile foothills of the Mount Gamalma volcano in Indonesia, Johar proudly showed his favorite clove tree, which once firmly provided profitable yield.
The buds of spice -making aromatic flowers can only provide its prized smell and taste in the specific temperature and humidity range.
In a good season, the best drug of 150 huge tights of Johar can bounce 30 kg of fragrant spices used for tastes, perfumes, cigarettes and food.
But bad weather is getting high, causing uncertainty, causing prices to rise from $ 5.30 to $ 7.40 per kg and life becomes rapidly difficult for farmers.
Data from the Food and Agricultural Organization for the last two decades suggest that Indonesia’s clove yield varies significantly compared to rival rival producers. The yield in 2023, the previous year’s data is available, was about one quarter less than the 2010 summit.
“We are really losing money. Cloves do not give fruit every year. They are dependent on the weather,” said Johar, who represents 36 cloves on the island.
Many other jobs are taking as yields that usually decrease in August and September. Johar sells spice-infected drinks and bamboo, which meet on the side, and some are considering leaving the crop completely.
“The farmers are now reluctant to the crop due to high cost and minimum return,” he said.
According to the FAO, Indonesia produces more than two-thirds of global cloves, although the majority is eaten domesticly. Since 2020, it is behind Madagascar, the world’s top exporter, World Bank trade data show.
Increase in rain
Centuries ago, Turnet’s farmers had postponed colonial orders to erase their clove production by planting out of the point of view of Dutch. The then playful climate of the island kept the crop alive.
Clove trees can take more than a decade to mature, and flowers can only be cut into a small window that depends a lot on the weather conditions, but coal -like fossil fuels like burning of fossil fuels mainly climate change has changed the global weather patterns.
Turnet dries overall, but when rain comes, it often occurs in acute, harmful bursts.
It corresponds to the broader trends associated with climate change. A hot environment keeps more moisture, and the rain may fall wrong and in large amounts.
Farmers like Lakina, who own 10 clove tree, say that the crop no longer gives equal returns.
“In the past, I could get five to six sacks in a crop,” said 52 -year -old. Now she fills two to three bags, she said. The changing weather affects other aspects of trade.
Emerba, a 62 -year -old clove farmer with 70 trees, says that it took three and a half days to dry the cloves, but “due to the rain” now takes at least five days. Scientific research fulfills farmers’ comments.
In 2023, researchers at the University of Pattimura, Indonesia found that clove yields were falling on the island of Haruku to the south of Turnet.
He said that there was a 15 percent increase in rain in recent decades, as well as damage to crops along with extreme weather incidents. It has struggled to the farmers of cloves.
“The communities living in the coastal areas and small islands are particularly weak,” said Greenpeace’s one -campaign team leader Eri Romapus.
“The productivity of their precious cloves and nutmeg trees is falling, and they are facing problems after harvesting with increased heat and humidity.”
Proud for future generations
At a spice sorting shop, the sharp warm smell of cloves fills the air because the workers scoop a pile in the bag for weight. Men send them to a warehouse, where a mechanical pruning tray shakes cloves, removing dirt and unwanted leaves before export to China.
For these clove vendors, climate change means low quality and falling prices.
“If it is very hot, the crop is not good. There was too much rainfall, no crop. There was too much rainfall this year,” said the supplier.
He says that since the beginning of last year, the crop season had almost half per kilogram per kg per kg from the beginning of the previous year, but due to the low supply, it returned to 115,000 today. He said that in recent years the production is “probably 30 to 40 percent”.
Johar urged the rich spices to “think of” global climatic issues “which threatens its future. Despite the challenges, he says that there are powerful “historical and emotional reasons” to continue farming.
“Our parents maintained cloves in the oldest area of cloves in the world,” he said. “He said … to take pride for future generations.”
