I made another trip to Indonesia in Aug/Sep 2009. South Java trip first to Rachmat Badrudin's plantations and then a look at Ciwangi Estate (in Cianjur district, close to Sukabumi). The good thing was that after the visits we went off to Bali - the earthquake struck 6 hrs before we flew back to Jakarta.
Above are are some photographs of Rachmat's estate & then Ciwangi estate below.
The industry in Indonesia has tremendous potential to improve quality and crop and threatten the so called 'big boys'. What is lacking is the investment into machinery and training. Some investments could give a ROI (return on investment) of less than 12 months. And it could take the individual estate/company onto another level. The technology in the field, like in most of the growing countries is the same as we have been doing for generations. Many things have changed and are changing. An excerpt from my forthcoming article on 'Climate Change and the Tea Industry' runs as follows " The Climate Change will cause more intense weather -
i. More violent storms/winds/… ( cyclone Aila hit W Bengal, and has caused a complete disruption to the monsoon rains.)
ii. More intense downpours/flooding/…(We saw what happened in Mid August in Darjeeling causing huge land slides and erosion. If we had addressed certain steps to prevent erosion the effect would not have been that devastating.)
iii. Change in Wind patterns/velocity
iv. Change in monsoon patterns (2009 monsoon !!)
v. Change in rates of evaporation
vi. More fog/mist/smog
“Change is the one constant in life. We must realize that if we want to see things remain as they are THINGS WILL HAVE TO CHANGE: everything around us is changing.” What we can change is the way we deal with change and the way we are changed by change.
Right now, the acute awareness of the true scale & speed of the problem remains confined largely to a precious few, but soon enough it will be blindingly obvious to everyone. We need to start working on making changes to our agricultural practices to mitigate the effect of the changes coming about in our climate."The World is concerned about Climate Change, Green House Gasses, CO2 emissions,…. Let us not use Climate Change as an excuse for our inadequacies. Climate change is blamed for crop losses, droughts, pests, erosion,… you name it. If we resign to this we will never find ways & means to overcome things that might still be in our hands (or at least to a great extent). Yes, you can not do anything about CC in the short run, to make a difference to your immediate problems. But we can work to find what we can do to change our practices & systems to mitigate the problems."
i. More violent storms/winds/… ( cyclone Aila hit W Bengal, and has caused a complete disruption to the monsoon rains.)
ii. More intense downpours/flooding/…(We saw what happened in Mid August in Darjeeling causing huge land slides and erosion. If we had addressed certain steps to prevent erosion the effect would not have been that devastating.)
iii. Change in Wind patterns/velocity
iv. Change in monsoon patterns (2009 monsoon !!)
v. Change in rates of evaporation
vi. More fog/mist/smog
“Change is the one constant in life. We must realize that if we want to see things remain as they are THINGS WILL HAVE TO CHANGE: everything around us is changing.” What we can change is the way we deal with change and the way we are changed by change.
Right now, the acute awareness of the true scale & speed of the problem remains confined largely to a precious few, but soon enough it will be blindingly obvious to everyone. We need to start working on making changes to our agricultural practices to mitigate the effect of the changes coming about in our climate."The World is concerned about Climate Change, Green House Gasses, CO2 emissions,…. Let us not use Climate Change as an excuse for our inadequacies. Climate change is blamed for crop losses, droughts, pests, erosion,… you name it. If we resign to this we will never find ways & means to overcome things that might still be in our hands (or at least to a great extent). Yes, you can not do anything about CC in the short run, to make a difference to your immediate problems. But we can work to find what we can do to change our practices & systems to mitigate the problems."
And then we went to Sanur Beach,Bali. Wow!!! Kuta was like the Calangut/Baga of Goa, But Sanur was great.
But by far the best time was with my Nasim, Shivy and Angel in Jakarta.
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