MICRBFICHREFERENCELI5RARY

A project of Volunteers in Asia

moloai Kampungan: h Collection of IndiaenousIndonesian Technow-

by: Craig Thorburn

Published by:Volunteers in AsiaAppropriate Technology ProjectP.O. Box 4543Stanford, CA 94305 USA

Paper copies are $ 6.00.

Available from:Volunteers in AsiaAppropriate Technology ProjectP.3. Box 4543Stanford, CA 94305 USA

Reproduced by permission of Volunteers in Asia.

Reproduction of this microfiche document in anyform is subject to the same restrictions as thoseof the original document.

Traditional technologies are an often overlookedresource of human ingenuity. Building on such

technologies is a promising approach toappropriate technology development. Using

detai led dr and descriptions.TddOgl lmgan sulveys tools

and techniques invented and adaptedwithin Indonesian communities.

ogies

By Craig Thorburn

The Institute for Socialand Economic Research,Education and Information

ited by Ken Darrow and Biil Stanley

June 1982

A Publication ofThe propriate Technology Project of Volunteers in Asia

Craig Thl rburn is the author and illustrator. His work on this book was supportedby a grant from the Asia Foundation to the Institute for Social and Economic Research,Education and Information (LP3ES), an Indonesian non-profit organization. LP3E.S ispublishing an Indonesian language edition.

The English language text presented here was edited by Ken Darrow and BillStar&q. This edition was published by the Appropriate Technology Project of Volun-teers in Asia. with support from United Methodist Committee on Relief, Church WorldService. and Catholic Relief Services.

Copyright 0 1982by Volunteers in Asia, Inc.

All rights reserved.

First Printing June 1982Printed in U.S.A.

ISBN o-917704-16-9

Addiriwai copies of this book are available for !§5.00 from Appropriate TechnologyProject. Volunreers in Asia. P.Q. Box 4543. Stanford, California 94305. USA.

~_,,,~ .,,.

Pe 0

A p p r o p r i a t e Technolo~!Teknologi Tepa t Cuna.ES, Pesantren and Appropriate Technology

Agricuthue!Pertsnian%es:Pacul.Plowsi’Luku~ti:Garu....................................P a d d y WeederILandak.Watering CansiGembor

tenawe WateringiMengairi Pohon/Senggot~iaterwheels/Kincir A i r lrigasi

Folder Treew’Penghijauatl untuk Makanan Temak“ P o r t a b l e ” Dneks/Pemiliharaan l t i k

Fishing ami Aquaeuiture/Perikanan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .30Fish Farming/Kolam Ikan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .31Raising J?ish in CagesiKeramba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... 3-tFish Trap’Bubu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... ..3 6Fish TrapITanggok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .37Large Iit3 Net/A”co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .37

NetiPecak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .38t/Ja~a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .39

/Perikanan Daerah Pant% . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .39mg/Pengolahan lkan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... .46

. . . . . . . . . . . 5

. . . . . . . . . . . 7

........ 9

. . . . . . .lO

. . . . . . .12

. . . . . . . 18. . . . . .20

. . . . . . .21

. . . . . . .22

. . . . . . .23

. . . . . . .26

. . . . . . .28

. . . . . . .29

a;ld cooling Utensils/Pengolahan Lepas Panen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

adi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Kincir Air Penumbuk Padi ................... .52. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

‘ngan Jagung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..5 6GddTempe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Cake/Waru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61tTohi)/Wti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

er/Pisau Ptngupas Ketela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64ing/Pengolahan Kelapa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6S/PaNtan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

on/Pmduksi Minyak Kelapa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68/Pernews Minyak Kelapa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Xilang ............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Pengupas Kopi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73il(rupuk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

/bang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . .76ungku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Tungku S&am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

ils/Perkakas Dapur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8S

Water Soppl~-,‘Pengelolahan Air .86Water FiRersiSaringan Air .87BamtmoHandPumpiPompaBambu ., ._ _. ._.___.. _. _. ._... 8 9

Trmspotiiion~ Pengangkutan .._....._.......................... 93Shoulder Polesi Pikul .95RicyclesiSepeda .97Trishaw/ Bccak .99Freight Tricyclei Becak Pengangkut Barang 1 0 1Car&‘Gerobak ,104HoluelMde iwiniblJs/oplet ,107Rambeo Truss Rridge/Jembatan Bambu ,108

A&it&um, Housing and Gmstructior~/k-sit&w,Ferumah&n dan Bangunan 110

F’iiRricks!Bata _. _. _. _. ._ _. _. __ __ ,111“Red Cement”.‘Semen Merah ,112pozz&nie Soil Cement Bricks/Batako ,113W o o d a n d Ramboo Preservation/Pen,gawetan K a y u d a n B a m b u .114Adze/Wadnng _. _. _. _. _. _. _. _. ,116.Aiang-Alang Grass RoofIAta.2 Alang-Alan;: ,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...117

lmoReL&rcedCemeot/RamL~ “-; :, ; _. _. ._ ,118seDesign/‘~?umohAceh... __. ._...... . ..119ments/Perkk;i;a? Bambu .120

Small Indnsties, Eamlicmfta and the I&III& Se tar/lndushi Kecil,Kerajinan Tangan d a n S&or I n f o r m a l . ,121

ReqclingiGtma Ulang ,122Used The&Ban Bekas ,123L&@bulb Wick Lamp/Lampu *iempel ,124Fhoreseent Tube wick Lamp/;.ampu “Neon” ,125Rla&smith@:Pandai Besi ,126Fan-Typ Forge i%mps/Ububan Putar ,._.._.__. ._.. . ..127

MeAetingPiston-TypeForgePomp/Puup .._.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129er Air Pumps! Ububan dan Pup Lain .,...,....,................. 133

Ti~er’sFwgeiUbubanPatri ,135SilverSoldering/PatriPerak. ,136SpimdngWheel/Pemintal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...137Two-MzmGrinder/pengasah Pisau ,138Grinding WheeUpenggosok Batu Ciicin ,139

IkiEilbr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..14(.Iathe,XlubutanKayu . ,141

Potter’s Wheel/ Putaran Gerabah . ,144Ridded Clay Forms/Pengecoran Tanah Liat ,145lire pat&ingiVulkanisasi .I46Acetylene Gas Gmerator/Pembangkit Gas Karbit ,148

Watewheel/Kincir Air Pembangki t Lis t r ik ,150s Kitiran.....................................

Table/MejaGambar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I53

AbouttheAuthor..................................................!54

INTRODUCTION 5

Appropriate Technology/Tekuologi Tepat Guna

“Appropriate technology” is a term whichhas almost as many defhtions as it has practi-tioners. This book is not an attempt to write yetanother definition; rather, it is the result of anapproach to the subject which the author andmany of his associates feel is vital if appropriatetechnologies are to play a roie in the fotilre ofdeveloping nations: the examination of existingindigenous technologies as the first step in anyprogram which is to involve technological inno-vation and change.

Appropriate technology is not a specificpackage of tools and techniques. but rather anapproach which reflects a particular view ofsociety and technology. It suggests that tech-nology is neither oeutral nor does it evolvealwe a single path. It recognizes that differentcultural an? geographical groups ail1 havedifferent techno!ogies appropriate to their owncircumstances; that technological self-deter-mination is essential to cultural identity andpolitical independence. It believes that the onlywise technologies are those which seek to suitthe specific biological, cultural and economicenvironment in which they are used.

There is no well defined border lie be-tween subsistence and tnz:ket economies. Asign+.ticant potion of the population of manydeveloping nations live in the grey area wherecharacteristics of both types of economies inter-mingle. creating a juxtaposition of survivaleconomics with the modem gadgetry of the20th century. Villagers still provide for most oftheir own Eeeds, but are not isolated from newinnovations and other benefits spread throughdomestic and international trade.

Most villagers still manufachue nearly allof the tools they use. Far from being backwardor illogical as is often supposed, most of thesetraditional tools and systems do in fact have anunderlying rationale which has developed inresponse to local conditions, needs and ma-terials. They reflect the peoples’ accumulatedexpertise acquired over thousands of years.

Throughout history, Indonesia has shownaremarkable talent for absorbing and adaptingexternal influences without necessarily dis-carding older beliefs. For Zoo0 years Indonesiahas been influenced by a variety of religious.

political and commercial forces, representingvirtually every Asian civilization that everexisted. and a variety of Western powers datingalmost back to the days of Marco Polo.Every nationality which has ever traded,colonized, or taken shelter in Indonesia hasmade its contribution to Indonesian culture.though in most cases it would be difficult torecognize the original form. The Indonesianshave selected those aspects and innovationsthat suit their particular tastes and needs, andthen adapted them, creating a new and veryIndonesian variety.

Indonesia’s indigenous village techpolo-gies reflect this history. As trade and communi-cation improve and increase, this process ofselection and adaptation, or “transformation oftechnology,” increases also. Indonesian vil-lagers are still creating and producing their owntools, constantly adapting new designs andproducts, sometimes incorporating manu-factured parts, often gathering the modemsector’s discards and recycling them into in-genious new devices.

As government and private agencies beginto examine possible roles for appropriate tech-nologies in their community development pro-grams, discussions frequently center upon“transfer of technology”-the adoption ofmodem technologies from industrial nations foruse in communities in developing nations. Asexplained above, a much more complexprocess, called here the “transformation oftechnology” is currently taking place inIndonesia’s villages, as it has for centuries.

Theapproach taken by development agen-cies is often flawed in that by stressing thetransfer of modem foreign technologies tovillages, the needs and capabilities of villagersare ignored. Modem foreign technologies grewout of the physical, social and economic circum-stances of industrialized countries. Many ofthese technologies have resource-use char-acteristics, capital to labor ratios, and socialorganization requirements that make them ill-suited to Indonesia. Indonesian villagers can-not afford the social and economic dislocationsthat can result from the direct transplantationof such inappropriate technologies.

6 INTROLYJCTION

Every culture has a technological traditionand new technolo@es must grow om of thattradition. And in the erent that an entirely newmnovation is to be irrtxxiuced into a com-munity. an estimation of its potential social,economic and environmental impact upon thatcommunity is nor possible without previousexaminar’tir of the existing situation. Perhapsthe best \,x ‘i to become familiar with thefactors detemining the types of technologiesappropriate ZI a given situation is to stud,y thetechnologies already produced and used there.Probably the developn . ..if worker will discoverthat he has more to ie~: Lwmthe villagers thanthe villagers have to learn from him.

This book is the product of such an exam-ination: these are some of the things I’velearned.

INTRODUCTION 7 I

LP3ES, Pesantren and Appropriate Technology

LP3ES. the lnstitute for Social and Eco-nomic Research. Education and Information. isan independent nonprofit organization aimedprimarily at developing young human te-sources in Indonesia. It was founded in August1971 with :he purpose of assisting the younggeneration of Indonesians to understand theproblems and limitations facing them and theircoo,. :y in the future. and to help them toprepare for that future through programs stess-ing self-help and self-employment.

There are four programs underway toachieve these goals:

l Research;. Small Industries Development:l Pesantren Development: andl Publications.Two of these programs are actively involv-

cd in the promotion of appropriate technology:the Small lndushies Development Program andthe Pesantren Development Program.

Since 1973. LP3E.5 has tried to assistseveral pesantren (traditiona Islamic educa-tional and social institutions) to discover andpursue more active roles in the development oftheir surrounding communities. Pesantren arean exclusive and influential feature of ruralIndonesia, especially Java. Pesantren havebeen a vital force in the preservation ofIndonesian and Islamic values and traditionsthroughout the history of the nation, and havegiven rise to a strong sense of “Mandiri,” orself-reliance.

Many villagers receive part or all of theireducation from pesantren. Unlike successfulsNdents of government schools who aspire tobecome teachers, government officials, orworkers in the modem business and industrialsectors, nearly all pesanmm graduates remainin the villages workingasfarmers. craftsmen orsmall traders. There are no other educationalinstitutions which can boast an equal under-standing of or quality of communication withtheir communities.

In the villages. pesantren leaders are asimportant and perhaps more powerful thanlocal government leaders. The potential forpesanaen organisations to lead their communi-ties in ventures promoting self-reliance and

self-direction is one of Indonesia’s great re-sources. LP3ES is attempting to understandaud tap thib tremendous potential.

Together with the leadership of severalpesantren selected for their progressive atti-tudes and &:;c inwlvement with corrmrmityaffairs. a small aff at LP3ES is activelyexploring \. ays in which pesantw <an be-come grxs-roots ievel agents of char&, Volun-teer tiz13 ,vorkers. se lected from ptsantrenthroughout Java. Madura. Sunda sod Jakarta,have participated in extensive traini~:g pro-grams in community development pra.ticesand methods. Returning to their pesantrtzn andvillages they have attempted to put their newskills and ideas into action. As their activitiesbegan to expand, they SM)II realized the poten-tial for incorporating various appropriate vil-lage technologies into their developmentprograms.

In 1978, LP3ES began drawing up plans foran appropriate technology component for theirongoing program of guidance and support.With Asia Foundation support. they undertookan ambitious program of research, planningand training. This program has concentrated onthe existing technologies and basic needs foundin the pesantren communities, communicationskills, and the examination of simple tech-nologies suited for use in these communities.LP3ES hired Craig Thorbum to assist in thedesign and execution of this program. and toresearch and write this book.

AGRICULTURE 9

iPertanian

Agriculture. in which human beings workho gain food and fiber from the soil throughliving plants and animals, is the closest inter-action between humans aad nature. Over thecenturies. lndonesian farmers have learned t,olive with nature’s bounty. limits and rhythms,

developing a finelytuned agricultural systemin harmony with their tropical environment.

This complex system is constant!y chang-ing. Climatic shifts take place, new technolo-gies are invented or introduced, and mostimportant. human numbers con&tie to in-crease.

Clear evidence of the effect of increasedpoplrlation on ancient ap-i~xltural patterns isoften seen in areas wit . :h-and-bum agri-culture has suppori~., ,~.J population forcenturies. In this system, a small sectionof the forest is cm and burned off, clearinga plot of land for planting. This land is farmedfor 2 or 3 wars until soii fertility has decreasedto tile p&t that insufficient crops are pro-duced. The plot is then abandoned, a new onecleared. and the old plot slowly returns toforest. In about 20 vears. the area has regainedits fertility, and can be slashed, burned andfarmed again. But in many xeas where thistechnique has been practiced uninterrupted forcenturies, increased population is now forcingpeople fo return to abandoned plots sooner.before the land has fully regained its fertility. Insuch cases the soil quickly becomes so depletedthat the forest cannot reclaim it; the land isruined for farming and the people are forced tomove on.

Equally dating trends are evident indensely populated wet rice cultivating areas.Recent statistics indicate that the nationalaverage land hcidissg is 57 hectares per house-hdd. It is es&wed rhz t a typical family needsto cultivate .7 hectares ,f gcod wet rice 1ar.d tosuppo~n its basic need:. The landless. share-csoppers. and farm laborers are not gettingenough 10 ear. either by their own estimates orby any essablishcd staei~tical measurements.

stalks. ard harvest as much as they could. Theywould bc :ntitled to a share (huwon) of whatthey cut. In recent years. however. there havebeen migrations of landless people followingthe harvests across Java. Too many people havetaken part in the harvests, to the point ofnegative marginal labor productivity. Lossesdue to cutting, transporting, theft, and tramp-ling have been too high. Landowners, feelingtheir traditional roles as patrons becomingburdensome, have increasingiy turned to a newharvesting system known as febasurz, in whichthe crop is sold in the field before it is ripe to aharvesting contractor, who hires a small teamof harvesters. These harvesters use sickles tocut the rice and are paid in money, not in kind.This approach certainly reduces losses, but hasalso greatly reduced the distribution of theharvest to the poorest people.

Technological changes also are elimin-ating a+ult;we-related employment. Morethan 1 million women have lost their mainsourc- ..f income as a result of the widespreadadoption of small mechanica! rice hullers. New“miracle” crop varieties have brought changesto traditional zgric&ural techniques and pat-terns. Larger farmers have been able to takeadvantage of high-yielding rice varieties, whilesmall farmers are endangered by them. Newvarieties require high-cost inputs of fertilizer,special seed and pesticides, which requiresmall farmers to go into debt. If the crop fails,even partially. the small farmer is forced to sellhis land to pay off debts.

The technologies found in the followingpages do not form a picture of despair, how-ever. Rather, they illustrate the resourceful-ness of farmers r,ho are surviving in asituation which appear:; to many observers tobe nearly hopeless. Here is a glimpse at theremarkable agriculture which is feeding most ofIndonesia’s 145 million people. despite severelimits on available land and L:cpital.

IO AGRICULTURE

Hoes/Pad

The long bladedpacul or cankul serves thefunction of the hoe and the spade in Westernagriculture. It is used to tom the soil, digtrenches, shaoe banks. weed, mix mortar,scoop materiafinto containers, etc. Traditional-ly made with a waoden head provided with asteel tip (left), now most conkui have bladesm,ade entirely Eom steei (center). The examp!,:shown is the type commonly made by villageblacksmiths, but cast blades from foreign fac-tories are becoming more popular. An unusualpuctrl (right) features a two-piece steel blade.When the tip wears too short or cracks, only thecuter section is replaced by the blacksmithThis type of construction also allows the tip tobe made of hard steel while the oeck section ismade of a more flexible alloy.

The blades are attached to the handle at a50 to 70 degree angle. The blades measure 13 to20 cm wide, 20 to 30 cm long, and weigh 1 to 3kilograms. Tb,e handles are usually about ameter long.

AGRICULTURE 11

Balinese farmers often use a tambag. orforked pucul. It is lighter and less tiring toswing. and rhe heavy clay soils of parts of thati;!and do not stick to the ?rced blade, allowingeasier penetratior A ;cix+~g :?e blade onceturned. The w:de-biaded ranbag L for paddymud, whale t:,e shaq-; ~iut-d one is rrsed tobreak up ,,; &- <<.;I’

Small one-hand hoes with very shorthandles are called bengko. Their light weightand small size provide the control needed to cutweeds growing between crops.

12 AGRICULTURE

Plows/Luku

Next to the hoe. the plow is the most basicand vital agricultural tool in any culture. Theinvention of the plot marked a major ieap inthe productivity of all great ancient agriculturalcultures. In some areas of Java. there areterraced rice paddies owr 2 years old. Thefarmers who cm those terraces plowed theirfields with plows vee similar to the iuku orbq;ak stiil ir, use by their descendants today.

times steel moldboards. making them muchlighter than their all-steel Western counter-parts. Indonesian villagers can make and repairtheir own wooden luku. Wooden luku have alarge block. or burrrulun which forms the mainbody of the plow: steel Western plows do nothave this feature. Also. most Western plowshave a “coultrr”. a knife pointed downwardwhich preceeds the share and cuts the edge ofthe furrow: luku do not have such a blade.

The shape, size and construction of plowsdiffers significantly between one region and the

a

A plow is a bladed tooi which is drawnthough the soil to prepare it for planting. A trueplow lifts the soil, throws it to one side and turnsit over. “A&” is the name given to theprimitive predecessor oftbe ptow which breaksthe soil into clods uithout turning it over. Mostplows in use in Indonesia are actually some-where between an ard and a plow; they loosen a10 to 15 cm wide strip of surface soil to a depthof about 10 cm, and more or less turn it over,exposing the soil tosun, rainand air in prepara-tion for planting. Plowing also tams undergrass. weeds, agricttttura~ residues, a n dmanure which then decompose into organic soilsupplements.

Indonesian plows diier from Westernmodefs i n s e v e r a l r e s p e c t s . L u k u a;-e“unstabilized” plows; they have no guidingwheels to regulate the depth and width of thefurrows being cut. Western plows are usuallyequipped with a furrow wheel in front of, and aland wheel to the side ofthe plowshare, to guideit through a straight and even furrow. With theunstabilized luku. ahe plownan must use thehandle to keep the depth and width of thefurrow constant. To be controlled in such amanner, a plow must be light and small. Lukuare made of wood with steei shares and some-

next throughout Indonesia. If asked why a plowis made in a certain way. the farmer inevitablyanswers, “becauseit is suitedto the soil here.”A complete inventory of different luku and anexamination of their performance in differenttypes of soil is beyond the scope of this book.Instead. a description of each of the plow partsand their functions and a look at a few differenttypes of fuku should provide a basic under-standing of this vital tool.

The essential parts of a Iuku are:1. The pusungun (harness) tits over the

necks of the draft animals. Oxen or buffalo areused. usually in pairs. A single animal can beused in areas with light soil which breaks andturns easily. 80 cm wide for one animal, 1.5meters wide for two animals.

2. The coca&n (beam) connects the plowbody to the harness. It is about 2-2.8 meterslong, enough to keep the blade away from theheels of the animals, but short enough for tightcorners. The harness is tied onto the beam,which haseither a peg or notches ca!led golang-guling located near the end.

3. The buntdun (block) is the plow body. Ithelps to guide the luku through the soil. Therelationship between the block and the beam iscrucial: when the beam is connected to the draft

AGRICULTURE 13

animais, the block must sit flat in the bottom of and angle very considerably. Long singkal turnthe furrow. When pulled out of the furrow and the soil without breaking it into small clods.set upon unplowed land. the block should point This is best for burying weeds, green manure,slightly downward. The block is typically 6-10 manure, chaff or fertilizer. But because thecm thick. Long narrow blocks (IO-15 cm wide plow is supporting so much soil it becomesand 40-60 cm long) are used for hard uneven heavy for the animals and the plowman. Also,soils: this helps the plow pass : ;:aight and clay s&s stick to long singkal. For heavy soilsevenly through the soil. Plows for wet paddy the singkal slants sharply back. nearly paral!elsoil have very wide blocks (20 cm wide and with the direction of plowing. Soils with little30-40 cm long) which help prevent them from cohesion, such as sandy loam or the soft mud ofsinking in the soft mud. rice paddies, crumble apart or slide off before

4. The plowshare (mara or kejen) is made they can roll over on a long singkal. Plows forby !ccal blacksmiths from hardened steel. these types of soil have a much shorter singkalMany Indonesian luku have spear-lie points: set at a larger angle away from the direction ofthese are 8-12 cm from point to back, 8 cm wide plowing, often with a concave cylindrical shape.at the back, and 65 cm high at the back. Luku Such short singkal break up the soil and canfor wet rice paddies or very soft soil have flat only partly turn it over. As stated earlier, mostsides and the triangular or trapezoidal share luku are technically between a true plow and anfamiliar on Western plows: these are about 6 ard. The shape, size and angle of the singkd incm on the sides and 8 cm on the top and bottom, each region has developedovercenturies of useriveted and/or welded to the moldboard. and represents a compromise, turning the soil

5. To turn the soil, or at least break it up as well as possible with a luku which can beand throw it to the side, a plow must have a drawn with local animals and handled by a

moldboardor singRalbehmdthe share (actually plowman of small stature.an extension of the share). On many Zuku, the 6. The single handle (ekoror buntutan) hassingkd is carved from one piece of wood with a curved end to provide a grip parallel with thethe block, forming a sort of wing on the front of ground. at a height considered comfortable andthe block. This is the plow part which differs operable. Different regions have handles atmost between different regions. Size, shape thigh, waist or even shoulder level.

-.

14 AGRICULTURE

Following are descriptions of differenttypes of II&U found in xidely scattered areas:

The Acehnese Iuku is among the mostprimitive still in use. A small spear-shapedsteel tip fits in a slot through the triangularblock. The dry land model. (block only on theleft, and fully assembled on the right) is a crudeard. The wet rice paddy model has a shortwooden singkal at a sharp angle which throwssome of the soil to the side.

AGRICULTURE 15

The Iuku br& found in the barren rockyareas of Central Java’s southern mountainousregions is also an ard. An almost cone-shapedsteel point fits over the outside of the pointedtip of a long thin block. The long handle slantssharply back. providing the plowman withgreater leverage to try FO guide the i u k othrough the Fh stony SO&

A similar type of luku is found in Madura,another region with poor soil and insufftcientrainfall. The shape is almost identical to that ofrhe Javanese luku above, the only major dif-ference being that the Madurese Iuku has awooden singkaltoliiftthe soil and throw it to the ~,~~ ‘-.--.~~~~_side. The block is made from two pieces ofwood, the forward piece h&iig the share andincluding the small singkd, and the rear piececurving upward to become the handle. ManyMadurese farmers prefer very tall handles that

16 AGRICULTURE

This S:!ndanese wet land luku is the firsttrue plow examined in this text. The triangularshare cuts a furrow slice which is drawn tip andturned by the long wooden singkai. Theopposite side of the block is straight and slidesalong the edge of the newly-cut furrow. On thehku illustrated here. the block and singkal arecut from a single piece of wood. Some versionshave a separate siagkaljoined to the block withwooden pegs.

The Balinese luku has a shaDe almostidentical to the Swndanese Zuku above. but avery different construction. The blwk is madeof two separate pieces of wood. The larger piececurves up to connect to the beam and thehandle. The smaller piece of the block, held inplace by a complex array of mortise and tenonjoints and wedges, in turn holds the share andsingkol, which on this example are made from asingle piece of steel.

When asked why the design seems so,: /- complicated, a Balinese farmer answers,

- - - - - - “Because it is supposed to be that way.”

The Central Javanese hku maluruk has atrapezoidal share and a large, steeply angledsing& for turning the soft smooth paddy mudof that region. Note the vep wide block whichkeeps the iuku boom siding too deeply as it ispulled through Fhe SC& mud. This elegantlydesigned hku is, in the words of one Javanesefarmer. “rhe besF. if your soil is good enoughfor it. ”

AGRICULTURE 17

16 AGRICULTURE

Harrow/Garu

After plowing. the soil is not yet ready forplanting. IF is in large clods. lined with unevenfwrows and ridges which must be levelled. andcontains many large weeds not broken updaring the plowing. If time aIIows, it is ben-eficial to leave the soil faliow for a few weeks sothat weeds can germinate. and then be tamedunder with hoes before planting. But intensivefarming methods often require that the soil beprepared for planting immediately afterplowing

To break up the clods and smooth the soil,atoothedharrow, orgaruisused. Drawn acrossthe field by animals lie a luku, the garu has aboard about I to I .2 meters in length fastenedperpendicular to the end of the beam whichdrags across the soil. Protmdiig from thebottom of this board are 6 to 20 teeth which catthrough the soil. breaking up the clods andevening the surface.

Because the guru are very light, the plow-man often sits on the handle to give the toolgreater weight as it is puIIed across the soil.

Guru differ slightly from region to region:usually these differences are nut as pronouncedas with the hku. Besides varying in number.the length of the teeth ranges from about 10 to20 cm. Some farmers are now making goru withsteel teeth instead of the traditional ha-dwood.

AGRICULTURE 19

Sometimes the beam is made from bam-boo. like the Sundanese ganr to :he right.but more often it is made from wood. like theJavanese model below. The bamboo type islighter, but the wooden guru is certainly mt!chsturdier and longer-lasting. Light weight isimportant not only for transporting the gone toand from the fields. but also for turning itaround in tight comers and lig it up anddown between terraced fields.

?

The Acehnese gone, shown here withoutthe beam attached, diiers from those found onJava; the handle is parallel to the toothed beam.This configuration resembles the harrows of theSoutheast Asian peninsula.

20 AGRICULTURE

Paddy WeederiLandak

In most irrigated paddy areas of Indonesia,farmers +nt the rice in straight, evenly spacedrows. In this manner the plants are guaranteedsufficient space for proper root and leaf growth,and the maximum number of plants can grow inthe available space. Another significant ad-vantage of planting rice in rows is that the fieldcan be easiIy weeded with a tool. Rice paddiesmust be weeded twice, 3 and 6 weeks after theyoung shoots are transplanted. After that therice planrs arc tall enough to shade out com-peting weeds.

Weeding rice paddies by hand is a tediousand time-consucling task. Tlnere are a variety oftools which can be pushed down the spacesbcb~een thcrowsofplants. performing the taskquickly and efticientl~-. Thebest of these tools isthe iand~~k. introduced by the Japanese duringtheir occupation in the Second World War. Thelandak consists of 3 parts:

I. The “head” of the Iandak is a woodendrum. either cylindrical or with a rounded starcross section. The drum is IS cm long, with adiameter of about I2 cm. In this drum are set 6or more rows of stimflat steel teeth. These teeth

3. The frame is nailed onto a long wooden orbamboo handle. A “T”-shaped crosspiece attheend of this handle facilitates use of the tool.The handle is 1% to 2 meters Ic.tg. dependingon the height and preference of the operator.

To weed the paddy, the operator places thehead of the tool behveen the rows of rice plantsso that the steel spikes are curving back towardhim. opposite the direction of the drum’s rota-tion when the tool is pushed. He then walksdown the row, pushing the Zandak forwardabout half a meter with each step, then jerkingit back a fen centimeters before taking anotherstep and pushing the twl fxward again. In thismanner, most of the weeds and grass aredestroyed and buried beneath the soft mud.

If the paddy is left too long before weeding,and the weeds are allowed to reach a height ofmore than a few centimeters, the Iandak cannotperform well. Weeds growing in fertile paddyfields for more than 3 or 4 weeks become largeenough to get entangled in the tool’s teeth. Ifthe weeds are allowed to grow too big, thepaddy must be weeded by hand.

row, all curving in the same direction.2. The head is held bv 2 nails servine as an

axis in a rectangular wooden frame, measur-ing about 20 by Cm.

AGRICULTURE 21

W a t e r i n g Cans/Gembor

hluy varieties of vegetables and cashcrops xviii wither and die in a few days if theydon’t get water. Therefore, in the dry season,rhcss piantsmust bewateredre.gtdarly. Sprink-iing the soil around the plants is an efficient\vay to water, using much less water &anflcoding ditches around the rows or moundsupon which the plants grow. If water must belied or carried to the fields, sprinkling is oftenthe only alternative. The gemfmr is a tool usedon the island of Java for s@nkling crops. Thegembor has two parts:

t . Two large cans, either buckets or rectang-ular paint cans, hold up to 15-25 liters of watereach. A pipe is fitted at the base of each can. Atthe ends of these pipes, level with the tops ofthe cans, are fitted large perforated sprinklerheads. The cans, pipes and heads are all madeof soldered sheet metal. Material cut away fromoil or asphalt drums is best for this purpose.The slightly domed sprinkler head is perforatedwith 1CiO or more nail holes. A wooden or ironhandle is attached to the top of each can.

2. These cans are hung by ropes from bothends of a bamboo or wooden shoulder pole.Shoulder poles for gembor are usually about 1meter long, shorter than those used for trans-porting goods over long distances.

After the cans are filled to the top withwater, the gembor is carried to the field. If thewater source is far from the field a farmer mayuseless cumbersome vessels to carry the waterto the field, where he can pour it into thegembor. Walking between the rows or moundsof plants, the farmer holds the handles on thetops of the cans and tilts them forward gently.The farmer keeps walking as he sprinkles eitherone or both rows of plants.

22 AGRICULTURE

Low MainteMnce wateringiMengair i Pohon

Seedlings, young trees and fruit trees withshallow roots require constant watering. MostIndonesian villagers reaii that trees are im-portant, preventing erosion and providingshade, fodder. firewood, or Fruit which cansupplement their diets or incomes. But for poorhard-working vihagers, the intensive maiu-tenance effort necessary often outweighs thepotentiai benefits of planting trees. In a fewplaces in Java, farmers have discovered a“semi-automatic” watering system that great-ly reduces the number of times that trees mustbe watered through the dry season.

‘Two. 3 nr 4 unglazed earthenware cookpotsWC oscd to hold and slowly release the waterinto the soil around the trees. New pots, orcracked pots which have been patched withpitch or tar are buried part way into the soilaround the tree, about 40 cm from the trunk.The pots are filed with water, which slowlyseeps through the porous clay walls, keepingthe soil around the tree moist. During periods ofno rain, the pots are checked and refilled every3 or 4 days.

Water rs!Senggot

btdonesia bas some extensive and intricateirrigation systems. some of them dating backs~eral mmries. Since early in the 20th cen-tuty. there has been a massive expansion in thecountry’s irrigation networks. But a great dealof the country’s arable land is not serviced byirrigatiou canals, either because the expansionhas not yet reached all areas, or because thelad topography does not allow gravity-flowirrigation. Therefore water must be mecbani-caial;y lifted to water rice paddies, vegetablesand cash crops during the dry season. Salt pro-ducers also commonly lift the sea water into

\their dqying pans. For these purposes, there area number of different water lifting devicesemploying fevers called senggot. Three dif-ferent types, each with ditferent lift capacitiesare described below.

In areas w&b a water table more than 2 or 3meters below the surface and no sources ofsurface water, dry season rice farming is im-practical. Instead, vegetables and cash cropsare grown. Water to sprinkle these crops mustbe carried over large distances or raised fromwells. The senggot commonly used to raisewater Tom wells employs a long lever with afukntm high in a tree or on a pole. The fulcrumis placed 3 to 6 meters above the ground, andthe lever is 4 to 8 meters long. One end of the

AGRICULTURE 23

lever is weighted with a basket or old tire filledwith stones or pieces of iron. The opposite end.sttuatedabove themouthofthe well, is tied to along rope or bamboo pole which drops into thewell as that endislowered. At the bottomis a 10to 20 liter bucket which is dropped into the welland lifted to bring the water to ground level.

To till the bucket, the operator pulls downon the pole or rope, guiding it into the well witha rapid hand-over-hand motion. At first theoperator must give fast, strong pulls, but asmomentum is gained and the counterweight

2 4 AGRIGULTURE

arcs upward, the bucket plunges downward onitsown. Once thebucket istilledwith water, theoperatorreversestbe process, giving the pole afew strong upward pulls to send it rushing upinto his hands.

When bamboo poles are used, the bucketcan be attached with pin hinges so that it can beeasily emptied using one hand. If rope is used,the bucket must be grabbed with both hands topour out the w3ter.

This type of senggot can be used in hand-dug wells up to 6 to 8 meters deep, and raiseswater much more quickly than pul!ey or cranksystems. The senggot shown above lifts 15liters at a time from a 7 meter well. The level isSiz meters long. Tbe 25 kg counterweight isplaced 2 meters from the fulcrum. while on theoppos;te endoftheiever. the 10 meter rope andpole holding the bucket is fastened 3% metersfrom the fulcrum. The fulcrum is 5% metersfrom the ground. For smailer or larger senggot,the proportioos remain the same.

Another type of serxggot is used to raisesurface water b&mm 50 cm and 2 meters. Thefulcrum, located at the mid-point of the leverpole, is 50 cm to 1 meter above the ground,at the top of a bamboo or wooden “X”. or a“Y-shaped branch or stump. Water is scoop-ed up and lifted in a large basket or pan, about

twice as wide 3s it is deep. This container canhold 20 to 30 liters of water. The operator holdsonto a “T”-shaped handle, lifting it over hishead to plunge the opposite end into the water.Then he pulls his end down to lift the water. Assoon as it is high enough, he swings the levertowards the bank and twists the handle to dumpthe water into the ditch, rice paddy or salt pan.

Although this type of senggot is limited to2 meters lift at the most, and the work is verytiring, it can lift large amounts of water, tilling a5 by 5 meter paddy field or salt pan in just 2 or 3hours.

AGRICULTURE 25

The third type of senggor is used for evenlower lift applications, up to 50 cm. A small 10liter pot, bucket or basket on its side is lashed tothe bottom of a lever hanging from a tripod. Thetop of the container is just above the water levelof the stream, pndor canal. The handle is splitin two and lashed onto the sides of the con-tainer. A “T”-shaped piece on the end of thehandle makes polling easier. The operatorstands in the secondary ditch or paddy and pullsthe senggotwith 2. rapid back and forth motion.Each tog of the handle pulls a wave of water intothe ditch or paddy.

The lift capacity of this type of senggot isextremely limited, but for very low-lift applica-tion- it is perhaps the easiest of these technolo-gies to use, requiring less strength and physicalexertion than either the long-lever senggotdescribed above, or the direct use of buckets.

,26 AGRICULTURE

Water Lifting WaterwheelsiKincir Air Irigasi

Oddly, the use of waterwheeis for liftingirrigation water is only found in a few areas of

:i: ,, Indonesia, notably West Sumatra and parts of“’ West Java. However, there are rivers found

,,, ::, ,~,, rhrougbout the nation which could be equipped,:,, ‘vith’such wheels, in places where the topo

,:~: graphy ,has made gravity-flow irrigation sys-,,,terns difficult or impossible.

Indonesian water wheels are used to lift‘~, ‘:water 1 to 8 meters. The amount of water lied‘, ,; depends on the height and the strength of the

current in the river. Swift running rivers are: best for these wheels. In good locations, the

“” wheels can Iii between 10 and 30 liters perminute (120 liters per minute are required toirrigate one hectare of wet rice paddy).

Usually, the wheels are used to irrigate onecrop of rice after the rainy season. These wheelsare built to last only one dry season, as the rain

‘, ~, alone will provide sufficient irrigation water~~ :’ during the rainy season, and the high and swift

running water in the rivers will carry away 311” but the sturdiest waterwheels. Sometimes the

smaller wheels can be lifted out of the river atthe beginning of the rainy season, to be re-Taired and used again the following dry season.The very large waterwheels of West Sumatra,by contrast, are built to last many years, usingmany wooden components and lots of reinforce-ment. These large wheels are too expensive tobe rebuilt annually.

These are undershot waterwheels. Thecurrent pushes the paddles attached to the rimof the wheel, forcing the wheel to turn. Eachwheel has 12 to 24 rectangular paddles, madefrom boards or plaited bamboo. The wheelturns at a rate of about % to 1% revolutions perminute.

As the wheel turns, slanted bamboo tubesdip into the stream and till with water. Low-liftwheels have as many as two tubes for eachpaddle. Wheels with the highest lift have onlyone tube every other paddle. Each tube, hold-ing about a liter of water, is slanted to retain thewater until it has almost reached the top of thewheel. A wooden trough is positioned to the

AGRICULTURE 27

side of the wheel to catch the water as it spillsout of the bamboo tubes. A long wwden orbamboo trough or pipe carries the water to theriver bank where it pours into a rice paddy or aditch.

The wheels range from 2 to 10 meters indiameter. They are made primarily frombamboo, with some waden parts. Some nailsare used, but mostly they are lashed togetherwith inner tube rubber, rattan or wire.

The West Javanese wheels have a woodensleeve at the center. which rotates around a

the sleeve is a long wooden box. The largerWest Sumatran wheels have heavy woodenaxles with iron bands on each end. These rotatein holes in hardwood blocks, which are on thetop of two pilings that hold the wheel in place.The pilings are planted firmly in the riverbed,and reinforced with wire or bamboo anchoredon the riverbank.

These wheels work well, supplying waterto fields which otherwise could not be used fordry season rice cultivation. It is surprising thatthey are not found throughout Indonesia.

fixed axle. The axle is made of 2-inch pipe, and

28 AGRICULTURE

Fodder Trees/Penghijauan untuk Makanan Ternak

In dry regions of densely populated Java,there is often not even sufficient grass to feedlivestock. Deforestation and erosion have leftmuch land barely able to support life. Theinhabitants of these areas are urged to planttrees to help reverse the damage, but they areusually too busy trying to survive to botherplanting anything with no immediate tangiblebenefits. Just searching for scraps of wood andtrash for fuel is a full-time job for one or morefamily members.

In some areas of Java. villagers havelearned to plant fast-growing varieties of treesto use for animal feed and fuel. They trim thebranches from the shrub-like trees withoutcutting down or killing the trees. The branchesare tied in bundles and fed to the livestock.

::,,“~ After the animals finish chewing off the leaves,,~ the sticks are dried in the sun and stored to use::,,~

as cooking fuel. The most popular varieties that,~ prevent erosion whiIe providing fodder and fuel;; are fast-growing legumes like Leucaena, Pete><,,,:3 ,,:, Gnu. Twi, and AC&Z. Livestock also lie the;$;::’ leaves of Jackfruit trees. though most people?& prefer to let these grow large and produce fruit.

,$:$,,,:,: :

AGRICULTURE 29

~Tortable” DuckdPemiliharaan Itik

Duck raising can provide a substantialadditional income for rural Indonesians. Theeggs command a premium price and there arenow hybrid varieties which lay as many as 270eggs per bird per year. These profits becomevery thin, or even nun to iosses, if the duckowner has to buy feed for his stock every day.Therefore. after rice fields are harvested, duckowners herd their flocks into the fields ofstubble to gobble up the spiiled grain. A man orboy herding 50 ducks along the side of Java’shighways using a bamboo pole with a ball offeathers tied to the end is a common and alwaysentertaining sight. The ball of feathers wasplaced near the ducklings as they hatched fromthe shell. This objeci is thus imprinted in theducklings’ memory and they follow it like amother.

If the destination is so far away thatwalking the ducks becomes impractical. theducks are loaded into large open-weavebamboo boxes like the ones stacked next tothe portable duck pen below. These boxes aredangled from the back of small vehicles orbuses en route to their scavenging grounds.

But ducks walk slowly, sometimes takingmost of a day to walk to and from a rice paddylocated far away. Also, the more energy theyexpend walking, the less there remains for theproduction of eggs. So. often during harvestseason, the duck owner will take his ducks tothe area where fields are being harvested andtake along a short, plaited bamboo fence. Thefence can be rol!ed up into small bundles forstorage and transport. Ten or 15 meters of fenceformed into a circle and supported with a fewlight sticks make a fine pen where the ducks cansleep and lay their eggs. Sometimes straw isspread for the bids’ comfort and to encouragethem to lay. but most ducks will lay eggs onopen ground.

30 AQUACULTURE

F%bing and Aquaculture/Perikanan

Fish play a vital role in supplying theIndonesian population with protein. Indonesiais an island nation, blessed with more coastalfisheries than any other nation on earth. But inaddition to these rich offshore waters, Indo-nesian villagers harvest thousands of tons offish from fresh and salt water cultivated ponds.

Fishpond technology was probably intro-duced into Indonesia by Chinese immigrantsbefore the 12th century A.D. The Chinese hadbeen raising fish in their own country forcenturies, already reaching a high level ofsophistication. The fust written record of fish-ponds in Java appear in the Kutara Menawastatutes written in the early 15th century. Thisdocument mentions both salt and fresh waterponds, settingpunishmentsforthetheftof fish.

Cultivating fish in partitioned saltwatermarshes had its origins in Java during theMojopahit era (14th through 15th centuriesAD). Political prisoners confmed to isolatedareas on the northern coast of Java producedsalt and guarded lighrhouses. These prisonersbuilt earthen bunds surroundiig shallow sec-tions of the marshes. At high tide, they wouldopen gates to allow seawater in, closing themagain to keep water and fish inside until theycould trap them. This was not fish farming butrather a crude system for trapping sea fish, butit is speculated that they eventually developedtechniques Ear raising large amounts of fishand shrimp in, their rambak. Java’s north coastis still Indonesia’s largest tambak area; in other

areas. this skill probably came as a result oftrading in Java.

Freshwater aquaculture has also become atraditional skill in many parts of Indonesia. It ismost common in West Java, where it too hasreached a high level of sophistication. In someSundanese villages, every house has a fishpondin the yard with the characteristic latrine perch-ed on stilts above the water. Many of thesepeople also raise fish in the rice paddies as asecond crop.

The techniques for raising fish in ricepaddies appeared relatively recently. The firstwritten records of this practice are Dutch re-ports from the mid-19th century. At that time,rice was planted only once each year and peoplebegan using the paddies as fishponds after therice harvests. The colonial government beganencouraging the practice in 1894. Two decadesof intensive irrigation network development inJava during this period contributed to thespread of this practice. During the Japaneseoccupation, people in West Java began to raisefish in paddies along with the rice crop.

The most recent development in Indo-nesian aquaculture is the appearance duringthe last two decades of fast water ponds. Largenumbers of fish can be grown in small ponds ifthe water flow is rapid enough to assure aplentiful supply of oxygen. However, these fishmust be given additional food, as the algae andmicroorganism content of fast-moving watercannot support the high fish population. Thespread of this practice coincides with rapidurbanization in Java: urban and suburban resi-dents do not have sufficient space for theconstructioti of traditional ponds.

AQUACULTURE 31

Fish Farming/Kolam lkan

West Javanese fish farmers are some ofthe most productive and successful in theworld. Most of the techniques that they employare quite simple, requiring minimal capitalinvestment and only simple knowledge andskills. However. production levels are quitehigh, contributing a significant amount of pro-tein to the average diet.

Most fish farming is done in small freshwater ponds in the owners’ yards. Some fish arealso raised in rice paddies. Coastal ponds forb~mfcug milkfish are gaining popularity inareas where river deltas meet the sea, wherethere is sufficient tidal activity. and where thereis a source of bandeng fry called near.

Areas suitable for pond construction musthave a sufticient supply of running water, alongwith sandy, silt, or heavy loam soil with a highorganic content and pH of 8.0 to 9.5. Sandy soilloses too much water to absorption, but cansometimes sxcessfully be lined with a layer ofclay mixed with humus. Clay soils must bemixed with large amounts of sand in order to besuitable for fish ponds. The high organic con-tent of soils suitable for pond constructionserves two functions: it helps seal the pondsand also provides nutrients for the growth ofmicro-flora and fauna which provide a portionof the needed food for the fish.

Ponds are between 75 cm and 1.2 metersdeep. Hatchery ponds can be quite small-10 to18 square meters. Ponds for raising fish shouldbe 20 to 50 square meters. The surface tovolume ratio should be between .8 and 1.2 toassure sufficient absorption of oxygen by thewater. Channels are dog either around the edgeof the pond or in a cross or X dividing the pondinto quarters, providing a place for the fish togather as the pond is emptied for harvest. Longrectangles are the best shape for fish ponds, sothat the water may enter at one end and drainfrom the opposite one, assuring a more com-plete exchange of water in the pond. Basket-like screens are placed over inlet and omletpipes to prevent fish from emering or leaving.

Fish farmers are unable to provide specifictigures for proper rate of exchange of water, butall agree that the higher the flow the better. Aonce daily exchange of pond water is good.

Sufficiently rapidexchangeofpond water helpsassurc a suflicient oxygen content. If possible.the water entering the pond should drop andsplash into the pond, further assisting aeration.In addition to these aeration techniques, sometish farmers are fencing off small portions oftheir pouds for growing water plants such aswater hyacinth or kungkung. In addition toproviding some oxygen, water hyacinth has theextra benefit of being able to absorb pollutantssuch as pesticides and heavy metal toxins.

Before stocking, the ponds are dried outfor a few days. Fish farmers claim that this is to“warm up” the soil; it probably has the mainfunction of ridding the mud of parasites anddisease organisms. In fact, a recent epidemic ofa new and deadly virus infection in fish waseliminated when a long dry season left nearlyall of the West Java ponds dry for a month ormore. Fish are raised in three month stretches,after which the ponds are emptied, the fishmoved or sold, and the ponds dried out. refilledand restocked.

Most fish farmers buy fry or fingerlingsfrom farmers who raise them specially, Thebreeding stock are kept in separate ponds. Theyare bred and then separated again. Most var-ieties lay their eggs on special racks of ijuk fibercalled kabakon. The kabakan are then moved

into shallow hatchery ponds. After the fishhatch they are kept in these ponds for about aweek until they are strong enough to be caughtand sold.

Fish farmers can buy these frv for stockingtheir ponds, or they can stock their ponds withfingerlings which have been raised in otherponds for three to six months. Some varietiesreach 6 to 10 cm in length after only threemonths-big enough to eat. Most people preferto harvest larger fish which have been raised 6,9 or 12 months. The most common varieties offish raised in Indonesia are carp or goldfish,mujair. gurami, tumbuk and bundeng. Cattish

32 AQUACULTURE

and eels are gaining popularity, too, but requiredifferent methods. Cattish ponds must havethick banks so the fish can tunnel and buildnests, and eels are raised in drums or smallcement-lined ponds filled wirh sofi mud.

Ponds are stocked with 75 to 300 grams offish per cubic meter of water. Properly main-tained tish will gain weight at a rate of 25 to35% per month. The fish are given approxi-mately 2-3% of their weight in food each day.The most common food is a mixture of ricepolishings, manure and urea fertilizer, which isplaced in a finely woven basket or gunny sackand suspended in the water so the fish cangather around and eat the food as it filters outinto the pond. Blood ;lild bone meal are alsosometimes used if available.

There are also several simple low- orno-cost methods of supplementing the diet ofthe fish. Dishes and cooking utensils are

washed in water flowing into the pond, therebygiving feed scraps to the fish. Many peopledefecate and urinate into their ponds, althoughthis is not recommended for sanitation reasons.Twoothermethodsaregainingpopularity. Fastgrowing leguminous trees are being plantedaround the banks of the ponds, so that theirleaves drop into the ponds and encourage thegrowth of moss and algae. Livestock is beingraised in pens constructed over the ponds sothat their spilled food and manure drop into thewater, either to be directly consumed by thefish or to fertilize the pond’s flora. The lattertwo innovations have considerably improvedthe economics of fish farming by reducing theamount of additional feed needed, and alsoutilizing pond space for the production offirewood. animal feed, and livestock productssuch as eggs, chickens, rabbits and goats.

Besides diseases and parasites, majorpests endangering fish farms are birds, snakesand thieves. Losses due to snakes and theft arereduced by locating the ponds near houses.Whew birds are a problem, farmers oftenstretch a grid of strong fishing line at 60 cmintervals over the top of the pond, about 40 cmabove the surface. After a few crash landingsattempting to diveforfisb. the birds are usuallyinclined to go elsewhere to look for their meai.

A few fish for daily consumption can becaught with lines and hooks. lift nets such asancoorpecak. ortrapssuch as bubu. When it istime to harvest. the ponds are emptied and thefish scooped up from thechannelsin the base ofthe pond. Fish are rransported alive in plasticbags part tilled with water and blown up withoxygen if ii IS available. or in traditional tightlywoven baskets sealed with pitch or tar. Thewner is exchanged several times in a day’stravel.

Some varieties of fish such as carp andguramican be raised alongwith rice in speciallyprepared paddies. The banks are raised andstrengthened, and a 50 cm wide by 30 cm deepchannel is dog around the paddy and in a crossor X dividing the paddy into quarters. A 50 cmdeep, one by one meter hole is dug in the center

AOUACULTURE 33

of the paddy. Because of the space required forthese charm& the total amount of rice whichciln be grown in the paddy is slightly lowered,but this loss is more than offset by the addition-al fish crop.

Eight weeks arc available during the ricegrowing season for fish raising; between thesecond weeding when the water level is raisedfrom three to five cm and the time that thepaddy must be dried for the harvest. 10 to 14 cmtinger!ings can grow to edible 15 to 18 cm fishduring that period, with weight gains of about30 percent.

After weeding. the paddy must be dried fortwo or three days, then tilled with water until itis at least five cm deep. As the rice grows. thewater level is raised to 10 to 15 cm until thegrains begin to ripen, at which point the wateris slowly drained from the paddy. giving thefish time to reach the pond in the center of thepaddy where they can be harvested.

1000 to 1500 fish per hectare can be raisedin this manner. No additional feed is requiredbeyond the fertilizer used on the rice and thealgae and insects growing in the paddy. It isimportant not to overspray insecticides onpaddy used for fish farming, as this can kill thefish.

34 AQUACULTURE

Raising Fish in CagedKeramba

The technique of raising fish in cages(kenmbn) placedin rivers and irrigation canalsis an ancient practice in some parts of SoutheastAsia. This practice first appeared in Indonesiaduring the Japanese occupation of World WarIi. The Japanese army probably brought thistechnique from Vietnam, where huge floatingfish farms have been operated in the Mekongriver for centuries. The hungry Indonesian

siightly modified keramba that were less likelyto catch floating garbage and block the flow.The farmers began placing the keramba entire-ly under the surface of the flowing water;whether this was started to avoid trappingfloating garbage or to hide the keramba fromthe authorities is not known. The governmentbanned the placement of keramba in “technicalwaterways,” meaning canals built by the gov-

population began crowding into the cities dur-ing the war, and more intensive forms of - - - m - w - - - - - - e - - ,agriculture, livestock and fish management &__~ .,,-/ ~._~~~-xhad to be used to feed the people. After the war Ithe urbanization of Java continued. and the use :of keramba for fish cultivation in urban and isuburban areas became more commonplace. ISoon the disadvantages of this practice became :apparent. Keromba trap floating garbage, and ~~~~~-~~~~~--~~~--~~~

if untended soon block the flow of rivers andcanals, causing flooding ar.d accelating erosionof the banks.

Eventually the Irrigation Authority ofKabupatw C’uajur out lawed kerumbu a n dordered ali of them in that area to be destroyed.Some other iucal governments followed suit.Finally the government and the farmers com-promised: the government set rules on whichtypes of waterways could and could not be usedfor keramba, and farmers began building

AQUACULTURE 35

emment, as opposed to natural rivers orsecondary and tertiary canals built by thevillagers themselves. The Directorate of Fish-eries also recommends that the banks of canalsor streams used for keramba extend at least onemeter above the water level at normal flow andthat the streambed of the site selected be ofsand or gravel.

In order to fit their keramba below thewater level and still have structures of sufficientsize, the farmers began to dig holes 20 or 30 cminto the streambed for the placement of theircages. Kerarnba typically measure 2 to 3 meterslong, 1 to 2 meters wide, and 50 to 100 cmdeep. They are made of bamboo slats nailed to awooden frame, with a removable door formingpart ofthe roof. The4cmwide bamboo slats arenailed vertically onto the frame with 1 cmspaces between them. In small streams orcanals keramba are often built across the entirewidth, while in larger waterways they areplaced near one of tbe banks. The water in thestreams or canals should move fast enough toassure a plentiful supply of oxygen to the fish.

Keramba arestockedwith2Skgof 1Oto 20cm long carp fingerlings per cubic meter ofkeramba volume. The fingerlings are thenfattened for 3-5 months. The mature fish areharvested a few at a time. The largest fish arescooped out with nets as they are needed. andthe smaller ones are left to grow larger.

In murky green or bluish water, the algaecontent is usually sufficient and the fish needno additional food. But in clearer water, theyare fed daily. One kg dry weight of fine ricepoiishings per 100 kg of fish in tbe cage isplaced inside a woven plastic gunny sack, whichis then tied shot and placed inside the kemmbaeach morning. The fish crowd around the sack,bumping and sucking the food through thecoarsely woven sack.

Even if it is not necessary to feed the fishdaily, it is general practice for the owner tocheck the kemmba daily to assure that no trashhas become lodged in it. Every two weeks theowner cleans the algae and aquatic weeds fromthe bamboo slats to assure that the water canflow through the kenmba easily.

:. .‘. .-.,: ,... ..,....,

36 AQUACULTURE

Fish Trap/Bubu

Passive fish traps called bubu or wuwu.relying on bait or tidal river flow. are used inmany parts of Indonesia. They are found inmany different shapes and sizes. but all haveone fcatwz in common: a set of spines arrangedinto a cone shape that points into the trap. Oncetee fish or shrimp enter through the mouth ofthe trap. they cannot swim out again. Toremove the trapped fish, there is an opening inthe end or the side of the bubu which isnormally closed when the trap is set.

Most bubu are made of bamboo stripsplaited with rattan or cord. Some are also madeof ranan or from the needle-like sticks found inthe $uk fiber from the Aren palm. They range insize from about 30 to 2!Xl cm long. The mostcommon shape resembles a wide-bottomedCoke bottle. Because submerging bamboo,rattan or ijuk in water helps to preserve thesematerials, bubu last a long time. A carefullymaintained bubu cm be used for up to two

Bamboo bubu

Bubu are used to catch fish or shrimp inmanydifferenttypesofshallow water bodies. Ifthere is a correm. such as in rivers or tidalswamps. the traps are placed facing into theflow. often with an earth bund or other barrierto direct the water and fish into them. In stillwater either bait or the opportunity for shelteris used to attract the fish. The bubu are eitherweighted with rocks or secured to stakes orlines. Small bitsoffish,shrimporcrab meat are

placed inside to attract fish, or coconut leavesare arranged around the traps to provide darkhiding places for shrimp or small fish.

Depending upon the habits of the fishbeing sought, bubu are either placed in theafternoon and collected the following morning,or placed before dawn and collected in theafternoon. Sometimes they are left in place allthe time, with the owner visiting each trap oncedaily to remove the fish.

AQUACULTIJRE 37

Fish Trap/Tanggok

Another type of tool used for catching tishin shallow swamps or in fallow or recentlyharvested rice fields is the tanggok. This is acone-shaped bamboo basket, open at the base,with a smaller opening at the top. It is stabbedrepeatedly into the shallow water and mud.When a fish istrapped in the tanggok, it usuallybecomes frightened and splashes around theconfined space. The fisherman must reactquickly to avoid releasing the fish by lifting thetanggok. The fish is then pulled out through thehole in the top. Usually several people, eachwith their own tanggok. form a line and walkacross the swamp or paddy together. decreas-ing the chance that the fish can swim past themand escape.

Large Lift Net/Anco

Large square-shaped nets called anco areused to harvest fish from cultivated ponds andnatural waterways. The nets consist of 4 parts:

1. A square-shaped net, woven from strongcotton. flax, nylon or other cord. The netsmeasure from 2 by 2 meters up to 4 by 4 meters.Often the net has a tightly wovea patch in itscenter. with 1 cm holes, while the outer areashave 2 or 3 cm holes.

2. Two pieces of thin bamboo, tied in the

center, with each end tied to a corner of the net,forming a bowed cross above the net.

3. A sturdy bamboo handle connected to thecenter ofthe crossed bamboos, long enough forthe operator to drop the net into the water away

38 AQUACULTURE

from the bank or platform.4. A length of rope tied to the end of the

bamboo handle where it meets the crossedbamboos. This allows the operator to lift theheavy net from the water.

Anco are set in place by operators standingon banks or bridges, or sitting in a special towerbuilt above the water. Ann, use no bait. Oftenthe operator simply waits until enough fishhave wandered into the water above the net.Fresh water flowing into a rantbak also attractsfish. Or several peoplecan wade into the water,slapping and spiasbing with palm leaves toherd the fish into tbe area above the net.

.fhhe CINCO is lifted by fixing the end of thehandle into a notch in the platform or standingon it, and pulling on the rope until the net is freeof the water. The fish are then collected and thenet set in pla:e again in the water.

Small Lift Net/Pecak

Smal; lift nets, similar in form and functionto unto are caliedpecak. The 1 X 1 to 1.5 X 1.5meter pecak nets are much more tinelywoven, sometimes using cloth from flour or ricesacks. Becawe the nets are small and light, abamboo handle alone is sufficient to lift themfrom the water; no rope is needed.

Pecak are used to catch shrimp and finger-lings in shallow water. Often bits of bait such asdried shrimp or rice poliihmg paste are used to,attract the fish. One operator usually uses

several pecak at a time, wading a few metersinto the shallow water and setting the peak onthe bottom. ‘lbe bait is tossed Lrto the waterover the net. The operator then moves on totend the other pecak, returning every fewminutes to lift the pecak and pick out the fewtiny shrimp or tish.

AQUACULTURE 39

Toss Net/Jala

Round toss nets called jala are usedthroughout Indonesia to catch fish in shallowwaters such as swamps and rivers. Jala have 3parts:

1. A round net of knotted cotton, flax ornylon cord. The nylon nets last longer, but areslippery and do not hold the fish as well as thenatural fibers. J&r have a diameter of 2 to 3meters.

2. Lead washers are tied all around the edge

Cmstal Fiski/Perikanan Daerah Pantai

As a nation of islands, Indonesia hasthousands of kilometers of coastline and vastareas of shallow coastal seas. Coastal fishingprovides Indonesia’s expanding populationwith a major source of protein. Because thewaters are shallow aud there are hundreds ofdifferent varieties of fish found there, theseseas are more suited to small-scale fishingtechniques than those of large commercialouttits.

There are almost as many different fishingtechnologies as there are different populationgroups living in Indonesia’s coasts, but they

can be divided into a few main groups: traps,fixed nets placed across tides or currents or

of the julcr to cause it to spread when tossedand to sink quickly and evenly.

3. A rope tied to the center of the net is usedto pull the net back out of the water.

The j& is tossed with a twisting motionso that it spreads out flat before hitting thewater. It sinks to the bottom and with luck ittraps a few fish. As it is pulled out by the rope,the edges draw together, entangling the tishinside.

channels where fish migrate, drag and pushnets, lift nets, and miscellaneous techniquesincluding the use of hooks, spears, bow andarrow, harpoons, forks, snares, poison, ex-plosives, electric shock, etc.

Most traps employed are either cages orfenced-in areas with cone- or arrow-shapedmouths which allow the fish to enter the trapand then prevent their escape, like the smallbubu explained in the previous section. In fact,many of these traps are called bubu. The shapeand size of offshore bubu differs from the bubu

jam, used for inland waterways. They are usually‘*: large cylindrical or rectangular cages made of

bamboo or rattan, with cone-shaped mouths at

4 0 ,AQUACULTURE

one. two or more places. A few use bait. butmost simply depend on the natural propen-sity of fish to hide in protected places.

Another larger type of trap is called theswo. This is a fenced-in area with either one,or more commonly, a series of heart-shapedpens which entrap the iisb. Each pen in theseries opens into a smaller pen, and finally into

‘,a small crib where the fish can be lifted out.often a fence, or “tongue” of stakes projectsoutward from the mouth of the sero. Although

AQUACULTURE 41

these stakes are placed far enough apart thatfish can swim through, the fish usually tend tofollow the line of the fence into the trap. Seroare usually made of tightly bound bamboosplits, or of woven net held in place by stakesdriven into the sea bed. .Sero are used in waterup to two or three meters in depth. Once ortwice a day the sero ‘s crib is emptied of its fishusing scoop nets or lift nets such as peak. Aplatform is built around or over the crib tofacilitate this task.

42 AQUACULTURE

Fixed nets are most commonly employedadjacent to beaches or at river mouths. Themost ideal situation for placement of these netsis where waves break at an angle against thebeach, so that the nets do not block the incom-ing waves, but still can catch the fish in thereceding wash. They are pIaced so that the twoends of the net are above the water line whenthe tide is out. When the tide recedes, thefishermen can collect all of the entrapped fishwith scoop nets, push nets, or even by hand.

The nets are usually made of knotted sisalor nylon netting, bound bamboo splits, or evenstacked coral or stones.

Drag and push nets range in size fromsmall triangular-mouth cone-shaped nets orbutterfly nets pushed through shallow water tolargepukat harirnau which are pulled by motor-ized fishing boats. The Directorate of Fisherieshas begun placing limits on the number ofpukat harivzau which can be used for fear thatcertain areas are being overfished.

Push nets and skimmmg nets are mostcommonly pushed by a fisherman walkingthrough shallow water. but occasionally largernets are held by a fisherman standing in thebow of a small boat which is sailed or rowed by:>I bfr CI ewmen.

AQUACULTURE 43

44 AQUACULTURE

There are two main types of large lift nets:large mouth cone-shaped iilter nets held underplatforms which are built on stakesor floated onpontoons, or large rectangular flat nets whichare drawn up when a large number of fish havecoqregated over them.

The cone-shaped filter nets face into tidesor currents or paths of fish migration. Oftenthey employ a fence or tongue of stakes or evenheart-shaped trap nets like sem to direct thefish into the nets. When enough fish haveentered the net it is liftedout with the ropes and

Cone-shaped

emptied. often several times each day. Like allof the other devices described above, thesenets. called.;ermal. togo or tadah, are used inshallow water, up to about three meters indepth. Smaller versions of these nets can bemoved about and set in place with small boatswhen large schools of fish are discovered incertain areas.

Cone-shapedfilter net (side view).

AQUACULTURE 45

Rectangular Bat lift nets are called hogan.They are usually held in place under platformsbuilt on poles planted in the sea bed, but thereare also floating bagart which can be movedfrom place to place. Some bagun employ sero-like fences to direct fish into the net. but moreoften they draw the fish to the net using brightkerosene lamps at night.

All of the devices described above arequite simple and primitive, but they are well-suited for Indonesia’s coastal waters. Largeamounts of fish protein are provided toIndonesia’s large population, but the seas arenot seriously depleted of fish.

46 AQUACULTURE

Fish: Processing/Pmgolahan lkan

.A large proportion of Indonesia’s fish Latchmust be preserved by salting. because there arestill very few refrigeration and canning facili-ties in the country. In fact some 75% of the totalfishcatch. and9076 ofthefishcaught outside ofJava, is treated with salt. Much of this saltedtish comes to Java by ship. There have been afew canning factories built. but their product ismuch more expensive than fish treated withtraditional methods. A few attempts have beenmade to introduce smoking as a method of fishpreservation. but it hasnot yet become popular.

The most common methods of fish pre-servation are dry salting. salting followed byfermentation to make ikan pedu. and saltingli~llowcd by cooking to make ikon pindang. Drysalting accounts for the majority of the fishtreated.

Salt is not poisonous to bacteria, but ithalts or slows bacterial action in the fish fleshby lowering the water level to a point that thebacteria cannot act.

Dry salting can be used to treat almost anytype of fish. This and all other methodsdescribed work better on fish with a low fatcontent. Fat oxidizes and creates an unpleasantodor and taste. To prepare fish for salting, thefish are first cleaned and washed. Certain smallvarieties are not cleaned!. hot are preservedwith their stomachs and other organs intact.Large fnsh must be cut almost in half so thatthey can be folded out flat. Smal! slits must bemade in fish with thick flesh. The base of thesalting container is lined w+th a two to threecentimeter layer of salt. A layer of fish is placedupon this salt. with extra salt rubbed into thestomach cavities. These fish are then coveredwith a thin layer of salt. The process is repeateduntil the container is full. A two to threecentimeter layer of salt is spread over the top,over which is placed a loosely-woven bamboolid with weights to press down on the fish. Saltequal to 25-30s of the weight of the fish isused. The salt draws the water from the fleshof the fish and forms a thick brine. Sometimesthe fish and salt are placed in baskets and thebrine is allowed to run off in a process known as“kench salting”. More commonly, the fish andsalt are placed in solid containers for 24.72

hours. the larger the fish the longer the period.Then the fish are taken out and the excess salt iswashed off with ciean water. The fish are thensun dried for one to seven days, with the largerfish requiring the longer time. They arc driedon loosely plaited bamboo) platforms which canbe moved inside when it rains or at night. Eachnight the fish become wet because the saltdraws water out of the atmosphere. The fish areconsidered sufficiently dry when pressing onthe flesh does not release any moisture. Thefinished product, ikutz asiw lasts up to threemonths.

Ikurrpedu is saltedjust likeikanosin, but isnot sun-dried after salting. After the fish areremoved from the salting containe: they arewashed with fresh water and air-dried. Thenthey are set in layers in a box lined with bananaleaves. Additional salt is sprinkled on eachlayer. The top is closed with banana leaves andthe box is stored in a cool shady place for a weekto ten days until a characteristic smell indicatesthat the ikan peda are ready. The fish areremoved from the box and the excess salt iswashed off. Ikan peda last from two weeks up tohvo months.

Ikun pirzdang is a particularly deliciouspreserved fish. There are several differentwa:+s of making it. It is best suited for small tomedium size fish, ikan Iemunr being the mostcommon type used. Most fish are cleaned andwashed: sometimes small fish ai? sot cleaned,but treated with their stomachs intact. They arearranged in layers in large clay or coppercookpots. with a thick layer of rice straw in thebottom to keep the fish from burning. Anamount of salt equal to about 20-30% of theweight of the fish is spread over each layer.Water is then added until all of the fish arecovered. The pot is placed on a tire and thecontents are boiled until the flesh around thetails of the fish begins to crack. The water isthen poured off and additional salt is spreadover the top of the fish. A small amount of wateris added and the fish are cooked again for abouta half hour, until the water is boiled away. Thepindung is transported to market in the cook-pots. Well madepindang can last for up to threemonths.

Fishermen can also make pindung usingsea water while still out at sea. Additional salt isnot necessary. The pot, large enough to hold 10

AQUACULTURE 47

to 12 kilograms of fish, is lined with rice strawand then filled with fresh cleaned fish. Seawater is added until the fish are covered, andthe pot is brought to a boil until the fish arecooked. The excess water is then poured off.This pindung /our can onBy last for a few days.

A third method uses steam to cook thepindung. The cleaned fish are first soaked in asaturated brine solution for 30 minutes. Thefish are then placed one layer thick on bamboosteaming racks and air dried. These racks fitinto metal boxes, up to 10 layers deep. Theseboxes . with steam vems in the tops andbottoms, are placed c,:n top of large pots ofboiling water. Every fifteen minutes the traysare rotated so that the tray on top is moved tothe bottom and the other trays are moved upone notch. After about an hour of steaming, theflesh of the fish becomes shiny and somewhathard and dry. The pirdang is transported tomarket still in the racks. Although this type ofpim’mg can only last one or two weeks, it ispopular because of its excellent taste andtexture.

48 POST HARVEST

Post-Hawest Proms&i and Choking Utensils/Pengolahan Lepas Panen dan Perkakas Masak

Musim pureklik is the name given to thetime when the crop is nearing maturity. butpeople have little to eat because the previousharvest has already been depleted. The reduc-tion of losses to rodents or mold duringstorage is of *eat importance to villagers toassure a short music pceklik free of hunger.

Most food processing methods are assimple as they are ancient. Nearly every villagekitchen has a rack for the storage of sun-driedcorn and cassava above the cwkiig fires. Thebeat keeps the fc~dauffs dry in the humidclimate, and the smoke drives away insects.The importance of this simple system becamequickly apparent to development workers whowere p:omoting the use of fuel-efficient wood-burning stoves in Central Java. The stoves havechimneys to carry away smoke and create adraft for more efficient combustion of the fuel.But the villagers had to bum up amounts ofwood equal to the savings from the new stovesto provide the heat and smoke necessary topreserve their food stores!

There are other examples of the negativeimpact of new technologies on traditional foodprocessing methods. Traditional rice varietiesaretiedintosmallbundtesasthericeiscut. Therice is then sun dried. transported and stored inthese bundles. which can be temporarily

s tacked outdoors anad are rain resistant.Farmers daim smaller iosses to rodents when

they store their rice in bundles. However, highyielding “miracle” rice grains fall easily fromthe stalks. and therefore cannot be stored in thetraditional way. To prevent losses, the new ricevarieties must be threshed in the field andtransported and stored in sacks. If the ricestored in sacks is stili a bit too moist, heatgenerated by bacterial activity in the sackscauses the rice to take on a yellow color and anunpleasant smell and taste.

Ingenious food processing techniques areimportant in supplying protein in the villager’sdiet. Fish preservation methods such as saltingand drying are vital if fish is to be an importantpart of the diet of the poor. Soybeans areanother important source of protein, but thebeans are not very palatable in their original

form. Twr~p~ and tuhu are delicious soybeanproducts which nearly everybody can afford.

As agriculture in Indonesia moves moretoward a money economy, cash crops playincreasingly important roles. But if the farmersells raw unprocessed materials, his portion ofthe final price is very small. Small-scale post-harvest processing technologies are necessaryto assure that the farmer can sell partiallyprocessed or finished products, and receive hisfair share of the final selling price.

POST HARVEST 49

Rice l’bnxher/Perontok Padi

High yielding rice strains and other newstrains resistant to leaf hopper and variousdiseases require changes in traditional riceharvesting, transport and storage practices.With most of these new rice strains, the graindrops easily from the stalks once it is ripe,hence the name podi rontok (“rice which fallsoff’). Most of Indonesia’s local rice strainscling tenaciously to the stalks, even after har-vest. Traditionally, rice has been harvested onestalk at a time using an ani-ani finger knife. Thestalks are then tied into small bundles which areeasily carried and stacked for storage. Farmersclaim that rice stored in this fashion is resistantto rain, mildew, rats and other pests. Padirontok, by contrast, is harvested much morerapidly using small scythes called s&t or ht.This rice must be threshed right in the field,because transporting bundles of stalks wouldmean the loss of too much grain.

Farmers in many areas simply beat hand-fuls of freshly cut rice stalks against a matplaced on the ground, or on a wooden rack seton the mat. This is tiresome and time-consum-ing work. In the past few years a number ofsimple home-made threshing machines calledpemntokpdi have appeared in several areas inJava and Sumatera. These threshers haverapidly rotating drums covered with nails tobeat the rice from the stalks. All of the differentmodels have several basic components:

1. The spinning drum is made of woodenslats nailed to hvo wooden disks. 5 cm nails aredriven parhvay into these slats, at 3 cm inter-vals. The drum spins on two halves of a bicyclehuh set into the center of the end disks. Thedrum measures 20-30 cm in diameter and 20-50cm wide.

50 POST HARVEST

2. The drums are foot-powered. There areseveral different types of drive mechanisms.One type uses a “freewheeling” rear hub andsprocket from a bicycle. a bicycle chain brokenopen so that it no longer forms a loop. and asection of bicycle inner tube as a spring. Oneend of the chain is fastened to a wooden treadle,which is loosely nailed or lashed to the thresh-er’s back leg. The inner tube is tied to theopposite end of the chain. and also to a pole setup behind the thresher, or to the bottom of thefront leg of the thresher. This latter arrange-ment is superior: it allows the thresher to betransported without having to move thebamboo pole too. The tension of the inner tubespring holds the end of the treadle about 15 cmabove the ground. When it is pressed down thechain sets the drum spinning. It keeps spinningwhile the pedal is released and pulled back upby the inner tube. Operation of this thresher is 6

easier with two people, one to work the treadle,the second to hold the bundles of rice over thespinning drum.

A second type of drive mechanism alsouses a reciprocating treadle. The drum has aniron bar axle; one end of this axle is bent into acrank with a 6 to 8 cm radius. The crank isconnected to a flat w&en treadle with abicycle pedal arm or sotne other sort of connect-ing rod. preferably ore with ball bearings in theend loop. When the drum is set spinning, thepedal moves up and down rapidly. This type ofthresher can be operated by one person, and itrequires less effort than the previous design tokeep the drum spinning rapidly. Unfortunately,the design shown here is too low, requiring thatthe operator bend down to hold the rice over thedrum. This is solved with the addition of fourlegs and a longer connecting rod between thecrank and the treadle. This is the cheapest andmost efficient design.

With the third type of drive mechanism,the operator sits on a wooden bench and pedalsa bicycle crank and chain wheel with both feet.The chain drives a bicycle rear drum andsprocket, to which is welded a second frontchain wheel to increase the speed of rotation.This second chain wheel drives a chain whichturns another sprocket and rear hub to whichthe drum is fastened. In this manner, a slowrotation of the pedals causes the drum to spinvery rapidly. conserving the operator’s

strength and allowing him to hold the bundlesof rice stalks over the spinning drum.

3. Each type of thresher has a sturdywooden frame. Size and weight are kept to aminimum to allow the threshers to be easilytransported to fields currently being harvested.

4. The different threshers have differenttypes of catchments and chutes to confine andgather the rice as it flys from the spinningdrum. The first model has a sheet metal hoodcovering the back half of the thresher, and acowed sheet of the same material on thebottom, slanteddownward away from the oper-ator. The threshed rice falls into a pile behindthe machine.

The second model is open, employing onlyapieceofburlap sack hung behind the machinewhich catches most of the rice as it flys awayfrom the drum. Better models of the same typeof thresher employ a hood and chute just likethe previous example.

The third model also has a hood over thedrum, in this case a removable wooden boxopen at the front. Below the drum, the rice fallsonto a steeply slanted wooden chute and downinto a pile behind the machine.

POST HARVEST 51

As the rice is cut. the workers bring loosebundles of rice stalks and hand them to theoperator, who presses them to the !:pinningdrum. twisting and turning the hund:es untilalmost all of the grains have been stripped off.The hundle of empty stalks is then tossed awayinto 2. pile and the operator grabs another freshbundle to thresh. In this manner the threshingis completed very quickly. Owners of threshersrent their machines out to other farmers for asmall fee.

These perorztok padi, appearing sponran-eously in several different forms in differentareas over the past few years, provide us with astriking example of the ability of ruralIndonesians to respond to changes in agricul-tural technology needs.

52 POST HARVEST

Rice Pmn WatemGlVKincir Air Penumbuk Padi

While more and more of Indonesia’s riceharvest is taken to diesel-powered mini-hullersfor processing. in West Sumatcra many tradi-tional waterwheel-powered rice pounders arestill in use. Even there. hullers are gainingpopularity in areas with sufficiently large har-vests to justify their use, or areas served bygood roads. But awa>~ from the main highwaysthe valleys still echo with the pleasantsplashing and thumping of the traditional ricepowders.

For the farmer there are a number offactors determining his choice of where to hullhis rice. The owners of hullers charge more,taking 10% of the finished product compared tothe 5% charged by owners of watermills. But

the farmer can sell his huller-processed rice fora better price at the market, as it is cleaner andhas fewer broken grains. Mechanical hullersare also much faster and can handle largevolumes of rice in the time a watermill needs topound cnwgh for one mca1. From the point ofvie!v of nutrition. howcvcr. watermills andhand-pounded rice offer a distinct advantage:the rice does not get as completely milled, andsome of the vitamin-rich bran and germ is lefton the grain. In Java. vitamin deficiencydiseases such as beri-beri are on the rise, inpart because rice that was once hand-poundedis now taken to the huller.

The Sur~lateran watermills are driven bybreastshot \iheels with diameters of 2 to 3meters. They turn at a rate of 10 to 30 revolu-tions per minute. depending on the water flow.The wheels are made from Sorian wood, a fairlyhard wood which remains very strong when

POST HARVEST 53

wet. Thewheelshave20or24 buckets and20 or24 spokes, arranged in pairs. The heavy 3 or 4meter shaft is also made from Surian wood. Tbeoldest wheels have iron sleeves on the ends ofthe shafts, which turn in grooves in wooden

blocks. Newer wheels have ball bearings on oneor both ends. Either a large bearing is fittedonto the end of the shaft, or the block is fittedwith twoorthrcesmaller bearings, and the ironsleeve on the end of the shaft sits upon thesebearings.

the amount of water available, and the corres-pondinglimitations on the wheel’s ability to liftthe rice pounding hammers.

continued..

One end of the main shaft enters the roomwhere the rice pounding hammers are located.For each hammer, the shaft has three woodenpaddles set at 120” apart around the shaft. Onebe; one the paddles come up below a horizontalarm connected to the hammer, lift the hammer,and drop it as the paddle revolves past the endof the arm. The hammer drops about 20 to 30 cminto the rice, then is picked up by the nextpaddle. These sets of paddles are about 20 cmapart, and the number of sets is determined by

‘, ,54 POSTHARVEST

The hammers slide through rectangularholes in two parallel horizontal beams, one nearthe top of the hammers and one near the base.Below the hammers is a wooden or masonrycontainer for the rice. divided into severalhowls into which oneor two hammers fall. Eachbowl holds about six liters of rice. To stop ahammer. it is lifted up and a pin is slipped into ahole near thebaseof the hammer. preventing itfrom falling or being lifted by the paddles.

It takes one to three hours to pound ricethis method. The slower mills cause lessgrain breakage than those which turn faster andiift the hammers higher. Thepoundedrice musthe winnowed to remove the husks and bran.

WiiowerXipas

POST HARVEST 55

Every West Sumatran watermill owneralso has a kipus. a winnower used to separatethe pounded rice from the husks and bran. Thiskipas can also be carried to the field at harvesttime to separate threshed rice from chaff.

Construction and operation of the kipas isquite simple. A hand-cranked four-bladed fancreates a strong wind through a box-shapedpassage. The rice is put into a hopper on top ofthis passage and allowed to trickle slowly downthrough a slot in the top of the passage. The ricefa!ls almost straight down while the chaff.husks and bran are blown out the end of thepassage. The rice falls into a slanted V-shapedchannel which dumps it into a container set onthe ground. Some kipas have two of thesechannels, one very close to the fan whichcatches the majority of the clean rice, thesecond to catch the rest of the rice which is stillmixed with impurities.

After passing through the kipas one time,the rice still has some lxsks and bran mixed inwith it, and the process must be repeated threeor four times before the rice is completely clean.

56 POST HARVEST

Corn Grhdem’Gilingan Jagung

In several areas in Indonesia, corn is usedto supplement or replace rice as the main food.either all orpartofthe year. Dried corn must beground or pounded into berasjagung. a coarsecorn meal, before it can be boiled and eaten.Corn shoutd be stored whole, because crackedcorn is quickly attacked by insects. Manypeople keep their corn on the cobs in racksabove the cookstoves. The heat assures that thecorn is dry and free from mold and mildew, andthe smoke keeps insects away.

Mamy people pound their corn as they needit, in a Iesung. But this is very heavy andtedious work, andin several corn growing areasthe people use simple hand-turned grinders fortheh corn. These grinders differ in size andshape in different areas. Two common types areexplained below.

Vertical cylinder grinder from Gtmmtg Kid&This type of grinder breaks up the corn

between concentric iron cylinders with deeplyscored grinding surfaces. The corn is usuallystill rather coarse after passing through thisgrinder. and mosi people pound it a bit moreafter grinding. However, they claim that this ismuch easier than pounding whole corn. Thegrinder consists of 5 parts:

1. A wooden crank at the top is turned togrind the corn.

2. At the lower end, the crank shaft is fittedwith an iron sleeve about 10 cm long, with adiameter of about 4.5 cm. The surface of theiron has parallel grooves about 2 mm deep and 4mm apart.

3. The sleeve fits into another iron cylinderthat is slightly conical in shape, also scored v:ithparallel lies. This creates two grinding sur-faces facing one another. The diameter of thiscylinder is about 5.5 cm at the top, taperingdown to 5 cm at the bottom, so that the gapbetween the two decreases.

4. A sheet metal cone fastened above theouter cylinder acts as a hopper for the corn.

5. A sturdy wooden frame holds all of thecomponents. The frame is planted in theground. Sufficient space must remain under thegrindertoplaceabowl tocatch thegroundcorn.

After the hopper is fdled with whole corn,

turning the crank causes the kernels to fallbetween the two iron surfaces. The inner sur-face rotates while the outer one remains sta-tionary. Abe corn breaks into smaller andsmaller pieces as it moves downward.

A more common type of grinder is a set offlat grindstones. like Fhe example shown herefrom Madura. It consists of 4 warts:

1. Twocircular grindstones about 10 cm thickand 20 to 30 cm in diameter. The grindingsurfacej of both SFOneS have about 100 smallindentarions, 1 X3 cm across and 2-3 mm deep,chiselled into them. In t&z center of eachgrinding face is a 2.5 cm hole to hold the axle.

2. The upper stone has a bowl carved into thetop surface to hold the corn. A 3 cm diameterhole pierces the stone near the center. Cornfalls ihrough this hole to the grinding faces asthe upper stone is turned.

3. A wooden peg fits snugly into the hole inthe bottom stone, and loosely into the hole inthe upper stone. It is long enough to hold thestones about 2 mm apart as the upper stonerotates on this axIe.

4. A saaight wooden handles fits .&o anotherhole in the side of the upper stone. The handleis about 30 cm long and points upward.

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Corn is placed in the bowl in the top of !-Ixgrinder. and the upper stone is turned using thehandle. The corn falls down the hole throughthe upper stone and is ground between the twostones. The rotation of the stones moves thecorn particles towards the outer edges of thestones. Finely ground corn eventually falls outthe edges to a mat or large bowl placed underthe grinder during use.

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Cultured Soybean CakeiTempe

Ternpe is a delicious and nutritious foodmade from cultured (fermenred) soybeans. It isone of Indonesia’s most important foods, andmay be one of Indonesia’s most significantcontributions to the peopie of the developingworld.

Tempe contains almost 20 percent proteinand is one of the richest known vegetablesources of vkamin B 12, a vitai nutrient usuaiiylacking in meatless diets. Tempe is easilyprepared and easily digested.

?empe production processes are bestsuited for small cottage industries. The processhas several steps and takes about 3 days. Nospecial tools or skills are required. Tempe ismade from clean dried soybeans and inocu-lated with Rhizcpus mold spores. (The pro-ce&lre for nFe;mrinn Rhi~nrnnc nnlmre is ex-r.-r..l...b -~.--L--l --._-_-plained following this description of tempeproduction.) Large cookpots, baskets, buckets.trays, and a set of shelves fb: incubation are allthat is required for tempe production. In coldclimates, heated incubators will be necessary,but in almost all tropical areas, open shelves are

beans in small baskets require only a fewminutes for this process.

boiling, the beans are only partially cooked;they are soft enough that the skins can beremoved easily, but the beans will not mash.The beans arethen poured into large baskets todrain.

On a dean, sloping tile or cement floor withdrains to carry away waste water, the beans arepoured into square bottomed baskets. Afterdousing with water until the beans are coolenough, workers wash their feet and stepbarefooted into the basket. Supporting them-s&es on water tanks, the workers begin totread upon the beans, splitting the beans andseparating the skins. Every 3 to 5 minutes theypour a few buckets of water over the beans androck the baskets to mix the contents. Afterabout 30 minutes nearly all the skins have beenremoved from the beans. Small amounts of

sufficient.Tostart the process the beans are washed,

then pot in a large container and covered withwater, 3 to 5 cm over the top of the beans. Thecontainer is brought to a boil and simmered forabout 30 minutes. The foam on top of theboiling beans is skimmed off. After this first

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The beans are now ready to be cleaned byfloating off the hulls. Some producers leave outthis step, making tempo with the hulls stillmixed in with the beans. This rempe can be soldcheaper because of the labor saved duringproduction, and is slightly more nutritious, butmost people feel that rempe without any hullstastes much better, and are wilhig to pay theslightly higher price.

To separate the hulls from the beans, smallamounts are scooped into a shallow roundbasket. Then they are immersed in water andstirred with one hand. The bean halves sinkback onto the basket, leaving the hulls stillswirling in the water. The basket is tilted andlifted slowly out of the water, leaving most ofthe hulls behind. This process is repeated 2 or 3times until nearly all of the hulls are removed.

If a clean source of running water isavailable it is easier to clean the beans, floatingthe hulls downstream by stirring the beans in abasket while it is slowly lowered into thecurrent.

The cleaned beans are returned to thecooking pots, covered again with water, andallowed to soak for 24 hours. A little bacterialfermentation takes place, slightly acidifying thewater.

Without changing the water, the beans arethen brought to a boil and simmered for 30minutes.

The beans are then poured into largebaskets to drain for a few minutes. After thisthey are spread about 8-10 cm deep on large flatbasket trays, and allowed to cool for an hour ortwo. They are stirred occasionally so that theycool and dry evenly.

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Next the beans are inoculated withEhizopiis mo:d spoies. Mo~i :rm~~ pr&~crsuse waru, hibiscus leaves specially preparedwith Rhizopus inoculum. Two wur% (eaves areneeded for each 20 to 3C kg of dry soybeansused. The leaves are rubbed tog&w over thebeans. Then they are rubbedover the surface c:the pile of beans for 3 or 4 minutes until all thespores clinging to the leaves have been rrans-fered to the damp beans. The beans are thenmixed by hand for several minutes to distributethe spores eve&.

The beans are now ready for incubation.This is done at room temperature in most areasin Indonesia. about 25 degrees Centigrade, orabout 77 degrees Farenheit. In colder climates,a heated incubator is needed to maintain thistempcmtwe.

To incubate the rcqw. the inoculatedbeans are either wrapped in small packets orspread in shallow trays. Traditionall!,. 25 to 50grams of ihe inocuiated beans are wrapped inbanana Iewes which have been perforated withsmall holes. The teaves a.re then folded and

tied. Now. many producers prefer to wrap theirrempe in @tic bags for incubation and sale.Like the sanana leaves. the plastic bags mustbe poked full of small holes before filling withbeans.

The small packets are then arranged onslatted sbehes with good air circulation andallowed to incubate at room temperature for 36to 48 hours. until the iempe is done. Thefinished ternpe is x-ad!- for consumption of salein the packets used for incubation. Tempeincubated in trays must be cut into rectangularpieces for transport and sale.

Good finished rcnzpp? is cohesive, holdingtogether h a firm brick. Thin slices should notcrumble easily. The beans are bound togetherby dense. uniform white mold. The tempeshould have a pleasant. sweet mushroom-likearoma. Good tenqw is best if fried or cooked insoups. Unripe tempt crumbles easily whensliced; it shouid be incubated longer. Tempewith black or grey around the edges has beenincubated too long: many people still enjoyeating this more pungent product. If there is anodor of alcohol or ammonia and a slippery ormushy texture the tempe has rotted and shouldbe discarded.

Waru, rempe inccuhtm prepared on thebacks of leaves. is the type of inoculum mostcommonly used by Indonesian tempe manufac-turers. It is produced with a few inoculatedbeans set aside during the tempe manufactur-ing process. Therefore, in order to producewaru for rempe manufacture, some inoculum ortempe must first be obtained.

in Java and other areas of Indonesia wheretempe is common, wwu can often be bought atthe market or obtained from other producers. Ifnot, tempe can be used. In those areas wheretempe is not being produced, nwu or otherforms of inoculum can be obtained from theDepartment of Agriculture. Tempe inoculum isnow becoming available in many countriesoutside of Indonesia, too.

If powdered tempe inwulum is available.it can be used to produce a first batch oftempe,after which the producer can make his ownwwu. Making rempe with powdered inoculum

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is the same as the procedure described above,except that instead of rubbing the cooked beanswith wwu, the inoculum is sprinkled on. Theamount used varies with the concentration ofthe different types of powdered inoculum: besure to obtain specific instructions about howmuch to use from the source of the inoculum.When wrapping the inoculated beans for incu-bation, a few handfuls are set aside for w(lraproduction.

If fresh tempe is available, it can be used tomake inoculum. The tempe is sliced thinly andloosely wrapped in banana leaves or plastic andincubated in a warm damp place until the moldsporulates 1 to 3 days later. Sporulated rempe isgrey or black around the edges. especially thoseareas around the holes in the wrapper. It canthen be crumbled and used directly to inoculatenew tempe, or sun-dried and ground to be usedlater. This method is sometimes difficult; oftenthe tempe will rot and not sporulate. All tools

62 POST HARVEST

and materials nwst be kept clean and aircirculati.ticn must be good to insure properincubation. Properly sporulated tempe shouldbe covered with fine mold hairs which arealmost black with spores.

Fresh hibiscus leaves, called wwru pufeh inJava. are used to make the inoculum. This treegrows throughout the country. Sometimes teakleaves are used; like hibiscus, the leaves arelarge and the undersides are covered with finehairs to which the moId can ding.

In a flat, shallow nay lined wirh a layer ofperforated banana leaves or plastic, hibiscusleaves are placed upside do-m, with the hairysides facing up. On each leaf is sprinkled about40 inoculated soybeans. These sprinkled leavesare then covered with another leaf placed withthe hairy side down. sandwiching the beansbctwen two leaves. Another layer of leaves isspead over the top of these first sandwichedpairs and the process is repeated. After 3 or 4layers of sandwiched pairs, the tray is coveredwith perforated banana leaves or plastic.

Several trays are stacked for about 6 hours,becoming warm from fermc;ltation. Then the

,:’ : trays are unstacked, set on slatted shelves for:, good air circulation, and left for another 24,,, hours or more. until the mold has sporulated.:;:‘;’ Next. ;he pairs ot’ leaves are removed t?om:,,

the trays, set out on shelves in a single layer andallowed to stand for 3 to 7 days, until the leavesare dv and the edges are beginning to curlback. If the pairs of leaves are lightly bound

together, the inside surfaces are covered withblack or dark grey mold, and the individualbean particles are firm and dry, the waru isready for use.

Waru stores well, though it does losesome strength over the first month or so ofstorage. It should be kept in a cool dry place,such as on the rafters of a kitchen.

Soybean tofu, called tahu in Indonesia, isan inexpensive and common protein source inmany parts ofthe country, particularly Java. Itslow price and widespread manufacture by thou-sands of small cottage industries make it avail-able to most Indonesians. It was introduced byCl-inese migran?s several hundred years ago.

Tab, production is quite a Gmple process.After the beans are soaked for hventy fourhours they are ground into a milky liquid. Thesoft wet beans are fed into a batu gilingun tahumade from basaltic stone. The upper seaionrotates on a w&en pin long enough to keep asmall space between the two grinding surfaces,so that the two stones are almost touching. Theupper stone has a hole through which thesoybeans fall. The hvo grinding faces arescored with lines radiating from the center.While the beans are being ground, a smallamount rf water is poured over them. Thishelps them move easily and causes the groundmaterial to come out as a white liquid. Thebottom stone has a trough around it, with aspout on one side from which the liquid poursinto a container.

This uir tahu is poured into a large iron vatand cooked over a hot fire until it boils andbegins to froth. Water is stirred in and themixture is brought to a frothing boil a second

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time.The boiled air tahu is then filtered through

a piece of cloth set in a cone-shaped sankarmade from bamboo strips set in the top of adrum. The pieces of bean and skin are filteredout. To squeeze all of the air tahu out of thecloth. it is folded over and boards are set upon itto allow a worker to stand on it. The beans and

I1

54 POST HARVEST

skins are somenmes used to make inexpensivere,n,w called trrnpe gembus. or sometimesused for animal feed.

The filtered air tohu is now smooth andthin. To precipitate the ralru solids, a smallamount of vinegar is slowly stirred into the airtuhu until the white solids separate and sink tothe bottom. In subsequent batches, water fromprevious batches is used instead of more vin-egar to precipitate the tahu. About one fourth ofthe water is saved for this purpose. The rest isthrown away.

After the water has been scooped off. thetahu is ready for molding into soft cakes. Twomethods are commonly used. In one, handfulsof the soft tuhu are scooped onto small squaresof cloth and the edges are folded up over it.

sava Peeler/Pisau Pengupas Ketela

The most time consuming aspect of pro-cessing cassava. for drying, cooking, or grind-ing to make tapioca. is peeling the roots.Workers in tapioca factories can peel up to a tonor more of cassava in one day using a specialknife designed for that purpose. The shortrectangular blade is sharp on one edge. Boltedto the blade is a C-shaped guard, its inside edgesituated about 6 mm away from the cutting

forming a loose rectangular package. In theother. a shallow wooden tray with drain holes islined with a larger piece of cloth. the tray isfilled with soft tuhu. and the cloth is folded overthe top. Then a flat board is placed over a groupof the small bundles or the top of the trsy andweighted with rocks. After pressing for a fewminutes to a half hour. the wrapping cloth isremoved from the soft but cohesive cakes. Tahupressed in trays must be cut into smallersquares.

Tuhu is transported to market in largesquare cans tilled with water to keep the mhufrom being smashed. It should be sold andeaten within a day of its manufacture. Tahu canbe boiled or fried.

edge. As the knife is pushed along the cassava,the guard skims along the surface of the skin,allowing the blade to cut a slice about 3 or 4 mmdeep, thus neatly removing the skin in only fiveor six strokes.

The guard is fastened to the blade withsmall bolts, so that it can be removed easily,uhen the blade needs sharpening.

The Nude ond hundk @the pisau pengupas areervh IO-12 cm Img. The blade alone is 3.5 cm wideand 5-6 cm wide yfier the guard is added.

Coconut Pracesshg/Pengolahan Kelapa

Indonesia exports copra. but a majority ofIndonesia’s coconut crop is consumed domes-rically. More than half of these coconuts areprocessed by villagers for their own use or forlocal sale in small amounts. Coconut products,especially the oil, are second only to rice in theIndonesian diet.

The first step in processing the coconut isto remove the tough fibrous husk. This isusuaiiy done with e selombut. a sharpened ironstake which is planted in the ground fitted into alarge wooden block. The coconut is struck uponthe selambut so that it pierces the stem end.The the seiambut is used to pry the husk off insections.

Next the coconut is opened. A small holein the end of young coconuts is all that isrequired to remove the sweet milk for drinking.To remove the meat, the nuts are cracked in halfby striking them sharply with a heavy knife.

A popular drink is made from young coco-nut milk, sweet syrup. ice, and shredded softyoung coconut meat. Bottle caps nailed to theend of sticks, or metal loops soldered into ahandle are good for scraping the thin stripsneeded for the drinks.

A special knife is used to remove the meatof mature coconuts for copra production or forgrating. The dull iron blade is perpendicular tothe handle, and curved like the coconut shell.The blade is forced between the shell and thebrown outer skin on the meat, then pulledaround. prying the meat out of the shell in oneor two pieces.

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66 POST HARVEST

Coconut GraterdParutan

There are a number or’ I.’ ,.:,s to gratecoconut meat. In Java. the flat parutun is mostcommonly used. Chunks of coconut meat al-ready out of the shell are scraped across thegrating surface. The grater can be made of thinsheet metal perforated with nail holes, or ofwood filled with tiny wire nails. or of pieces ofspiny palm stem.

Many people prefer a spoon-like pamtanwith a serrated edge, to grate the meat right outof the half shell. The simplest type is hand-held.

Larger amounts of coconut can be gratedmore quickly with a stool-mounted version ofthe same tool. The user sits on the stooland scrapes the coconut halves across theblade between her legs. A bowl is placedbeneath the blade to catch the grated meat.

There is a folding version of the same tool.When not in use the blade folds under thehinged seat. Though not as sturdy as the abovewoe. this model is oreferred bv mothers of

Five totett coconuts are needed to producea liter of cooking oil. Therefore, even a smalloil-producing out& requires tools which cangrate the meat more quickly than the ?anrtandescribed above. One of the best tools is thefoot-powered rotating panrtan.

The hardwood shaft has a head with 4 or 6sawn slots which hold the blades. Fiat-bot-tomed circular pieces are cut from thin steelplate, such as a discarded saw blade. The teethof the blades are cut with triangular files. Slitsare cut into the center of each blade so that theycan cross each other and fit snugly into the slotssawn into the head of the shaft. The finishedshaft then appears to have 8 or 12 serratedblades.

The parutan shaft is mounted in holes inthe cross pieces of abox-life frame, shown herein cross-section. A rope, coiled three of fourtimes around the shaft, is tied to two woodenpoles which serve as pedals. When one pedal ispressed down 20 to 30 cm, the other is pulledup an equal distance, turning the shaft aroundtwo or three times. Then the second pedal ispressed down, rotating the shaft back the otherdirection, and pulling the first pedal up again.

The operator sits on a bench in the centerof the frame so that his feet comfortably reachthe two pedals. With his elbows fimtly set uponthe crosspieces, he holds a half coconut over thehead of the rotating shaft. He presses downeach pedal alternately, causing the shaft torotate back and forth. By pressing the halfcoconut jstill in its shell) fitmly against theturning blades, the meat can be quickly shred-ded. An experienced operator knows when theblades are approaching the outer edge of thecoconut meat and avoids hitting the shell, tokeep the shredded white meat clean and pure.

A simifar porutan uses a bamboo springarching ove-er the tool to puff the rope in onedirection, requiring only one pedal to rotate theshaft back and forth. Most people consider thisarrangement much more cumbersome than thetwo-pedal version.

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66 POST HARVEST

A motorized parutan is used in small oilfactories and large markets. A 54 to 1 horse-power gasoline engine turns a coconut gratinghead which is bolted directly onto the drive-shaft. A circular aluminum guard surrounds thespinning head to catch the grated coconut andfunnel it into a container placed below.

Such a tool is very dangerous, and there isno safety guard or emergency clutch to protectthe hands of the operator. The people who usethis tool claim that it is easy to learn caution.

The grating head differs from the typeused on the foot-pedalled pamtan. Instead ofserrated saw-type blades, the hardwood head iscovered with steel wire teeth.

Another type of motorized pamtan uses arotating iron drum covered with teeth pushedinto the metal. The drum is belt-driven. Chunksof coconut meat removed from the shell areforced against the spuming drum. if a piece ofwood is used to push the chunks against thedrum, this tool is safer than the type describedabove. However, nearly all of the people usingthis tool push the coconut meat against thesharp teeth with their bare fingers, a verydangerous practice.

There are several ways to extract the oilfrom coconuts. Factories use large mechanicalpresses to squeeze the oil from chunks of copra.The cost and size of a press strong enough tocrush copra makes this method impractical forhome or cottage industry use.

The most popular method of producingcoconut oil in Javanese villages is ‘~‘calledkrengseng. Raw coconut meat is shredded,then placed in water and squeezed and mixedby hand. This mixtureis then boiled until all thewater has evaporated, leaving oil and pulp.Straining and hand squeezing are used toseparate the oil from the pulp. Krengseng

cooking oil is the type preferred by mostvillagers. Unfortunately, this method is inef-ficient, requiring 8 to 10 coconuts to produce aliter of oiI, and large amounts of fuel to boil thepulp and water. The fuel most commonly usedis tirewood, contributing to deforestation andits subsequent problems.

There are other techniques employed byIndonesian villagers, using fermentation andsun-drying. These methods produce more oilper coconut and do not require any additionalfuel. Some people claim that the oil produced bythese methods stinks and has a slightly rottentaste: the people producing and using these

types of oil say it tastes better, and that if theflavor is not desired. there are methods ofremoving it from the oil after the productionprocess is completed.

The first method described comes fromAceh. Like krengseng oil, the coconut is firstshredded and mixed with water. The shreddedcoconut is put into a plastic bucket or othercontainer, then water is added until the coconutis covered. The bucket is left in a cool place forabout a week while the coconut ferments.

Kiuh. pirrmg sheaf

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The coconut meat is then spread on mats orflats and sun dried until most of the water isgone. Depending on the weather. this takes 2 to5 days. It emits a powerful stench and turnsdark brown. To press’the oil, the coconut isscooped into a hoop of plaited rattan, shapedlike a soccer ball with hvo pieces sliced off. TheAcehnese call this rattan hoop the klah,.

A banana leaf is placed over the the opensides of the klah, which is then set on a sheaffrom the pinung palm tree. The pinang sheaffolds in half, around the klah. This tits into thepress. called an apit. The apit consists of three

70 POST H&WEST

pieces of wood. the outer two planted firmly inthe grocmd with the tops beld in position by aloop of heavy iron wire. The third piece canmove freely behveen the outer hvo.

The kbh with its pirmng sheaf are fittedinto the gap between the center piece and eitherof the outer pieces of the apit. A small woodenblock is squeezed into the other side. This blockis pounded with a heavy widen pole until thegap widens enough for a larger block. The useof larger and larger blocks forces the centerpiece over, squeezing the klah until the oil runsout into the bottom of the palm sheaf, which isslanted slightly so that all the oil drops off oneside into a container on the ground below.

The first squeezing produces mostlycloudy water. which is thrown away. The coco-nut is then sun-dried for another day, andsqueezed again. The process of sun-drying for aday between squeezing is repeated four or fivetimes, until no more oil is produced. The oil isclear, clean and ready for use.

The Acehnese like to eat the dried pulp,which they call pliku. It can be cooked in a soupmade of mixed local vegetables, or mixed withdifferent types of juicy fruits and wrapped in apapaya leaf. In Java, occasionally someonemixes the dried pulp with soybeans whenmaking tempe. This should never be done!Many people have been poisoned this way.

A similar coconut oil extraction method isused in a few villages in Central Java. Crushedketom oryuyu crabs are mixed with the gratedcoconut meat to start the fermentation. Ketamand yuyu are small fresh water crabs found inIndonesia’s rice paddies, canals and lakes.After the top of the shell is removed, the crabmeat is mashed into a paste. One or two crabsper coconut are needed. The mashed crab ismixed with grated coconut, then placed in acover& bowl and left overnight to ferment.

The next morning, the coconut should

f I

appear reddish and sticky. If it sticks to thefingers when handled, it is ready for drying.As no water was added. it dries quickly.

The coconut is spread thinly and evenly ona mat or metal sheet. It is then set in the sun andleft to dry for 2-3 hours on a hot day, longer ifthe day is overcast. It should be stirred andturned once to assure that it dries evenly.

The coconut turns brown as it dries. Oncemost of the water has evaporated, the driedpulp is collected in a large bowl, and the oil issqueezed out. This can be done by hand. Thenthe pulp should be sun-dried for another 2-3

hours, and squeezed again. This will yieldabout 25% of the amount already obtained. Apress like the apit described above yields moreoil from the coconut than hand squeezing.

For latgx amounts of coconuts, the pro-cess can be modified. A few coconuts arefermented as described, but then instead ofdrying them, this fermented coconut is used asstarter for a large batch. It is mixed with freshlygrated coconut in the ratio of 1 to 5. Theremainder of the process is the same. Forcontinuous production, one fifth of the fer-mented batch is saved each day to mix with thefreshly grated coconut the following day.

People who do not like the distinctiveflavor and odor of oil produced by fermentationcan deodorize the oil. A few slices of red onionare cooked in the oil and then it is strained andstored. Dark green or brown bottles are best forstoring oil.

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cmo?nli oil Press/Pemeras Minyak Kelapa

Squeezing coconm oil by hand or with asmall apit and kfah is tine for making smallamounts of oil! but if production exceeds the oilof 20 or 30 coconuts per day, these methodsbecome too laborious. A larger press is neededso that one worker can press large amounts ofcoconuts. One such press, orpemeras minyak,is the winch-operated model from Central Javadepicted here. This easily made press is usedby oil producers to process up to 250 or 300coconuts per day.

The press operates by squeezing preparedcoconut pulp behveen a flat wooden bowl and awooden foot, which is pressed down with greatforce by a lever. The lever is pulled down by arope which winds around awinch. The winch istightened by inserting a wooden pole into slots

xt in the winch drum, then pressing this pole tothe floor, taking more rope into the coil aroundthe winch drum and pulling down the lever andthe press foot.

Two to four kg of prepared cocor.ut pulp isfirst placed inside a woven plastic gunny sack.Ihe sack is set in the bowl and the press footand lever put in place over the bowl and sack.The rope is looped over the peg on the winchdrum and the operator begins to winch the leverdown. Oil runs out the spout into a largt? howl orother container placed on the flow. As thecoconut runs out of oil, the flow from the spouttrickles toa halt. As with other pressing meth-ods , ihe pressed p”:p can bc szn-dried a n dpressed again the following day, yielding a bitmore oil.

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Sugar Cane PressXilang

In recent years a number of “mini sugarfactories” have been created. However. a largenumber of small sugar cane farmers still maketheir cwngulu merah. They press the juice fromthe ripe cane, boil it all day until it becomes athick sytup, and then pout it into shallowcoconm shell molds to harden.

The press. called a kilang. has two uprightwooden cylinders with meshing gears that turnuniformly in opposite directions. One roller hasa wooden beam connected to it. pulled by abuff&o walking in a circle. The rollers ate heldin place by a frame made of four parallelwooden beams which, along with four ctoss-pieces. fit into notches in the rollers. The gapbetween the rollers is adjusted by drivingwooden wedges into the slots which hold thecrosspieces, forcing the ctosspieces and therollers closet together.

A large bowl is placed in a hole under therollers. As the b&ala wa!ks s!owly around itscircle, pieces of cane ate fed behveen the rollersoneata timeandthejuiceissqueezedout. Eachpiece of cane is pressed three to four times.anti! neatly all the juice is squeezed out. Many

broken pieces of cane aiso fall into the juice, soit must be strained through a piece of clothbefore boiling. (The kiiang can also be used topress coconut to extract the oil. For this activity,the rollers ate spaced further apan and thegrated coconut is placed in a gunny sack whichis passed through the press.)

The shredded pressed cane is set on tacksabove the cooking tire to dry. then mixed withsticks and ussd as fuel for boiling the sugar.

t&Bee Pdper/Pengupas Kopi

When coffee is harvested. the beans atesurrounded by a tough pulpy fruit. This fruitmust be removed to dry the beans. The labot-ious pulping process can be accomplished inseveral ways. For small fatmets with only a fewtrees, it is easiest just to pound the beans in aiesung(latge mottatand pestle), until the ftuitsate smashed and coming off the beans. Largeoperations use motorized pulpers. But themapnt~~ of htdoncsia’s coffee farmers do nothave enough beans to justify the large capitaloutlay and operating expenses of such a ma-chine. yet find that pounding the beans is toomuch work. Many of these fatmets use simplehand-cranked pu!pets, pengupas kopi. Thoughmade in manv diffetem shapes and sizes, thesepu!pets all operate io a similar fashion. Thepulper consists of 3 components:

1. The only moving part is a large drum.which is rotated by the operator. Often thesedrums ate made of wood, coveted on theoutside with strips of sheet metal. The edges ofthese strips ate folded to double their thicknessand leave them dull to prevent them fromcutting into the green coffee beans. The stripsate nailed oz?o the drrdm, each overlapping the

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strip before it. In this way, a ridged or cottu-gated surface is formed.

Another way to make the drum is to cut smallslits in a sheet of heavy gauge sheet iron.One side of each slit is then pounded out toform a tooth. The iron is then bent into acylindetofthe appropriate size (diameter: IO to15 cm). The drum is attached to an iron rod axle,and one end of this axle is bent into a crank.

2. Theaxle fits through both sides of a sturdyfour-legged wooden frame at a height which iscomfortable for the operator (about 1.3 meters).The frame should be heavy and strong enoughto prevent the machine from wobbiing or tip-piig during use.

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74 POST HARVEST

3. A wwden chute passes below the drum ata 45.degree angle. A hopper feeds the wholebeam onto the chute above the drum. The gapbetween the drum and the chute is 5 or 6 mm.Some slightly mote sophisticated designs allowadjustment of rhis gap by moving the chute upor down a few miliimetets.

Freshly picked coffee beans ate dumpedinto the hopper. The crank is then turned in thedirection which will squeeze the beans betweenthe drum and the chute (clockwise in theseillustrations). Fresh coffee beans have a dia-meter of 7 to I2 mm; and the two halves of thebean must split apart to fit through the smallgap. As the beans ate pulled through, the pulpis torn and crushed. Below the drum, thechute‘s wooden sides guide the pulped beansinto a container placed oil the floor.

The coffee beans ate then dried in the sununtil the pulps become dty and brittle. Thenthey ate pounded to bteakthe skins off the beanhalves. Care must be taken not to break thebeans. The beans and chaff ate separated by

winnowing. The cleaned beans ate ready fortransport, market, storage or toasting. It is bestto toast and grind the beans only just beforesale or use; once toasted the coffee beansbecome rancid quickly.

POST HARVEST 75

Fried CrackersXrupuk

Krq& are crisp airy crackers eaten assnacks or taken with meals. Krrrpuk are madefrom either cassava. rice or saga flour and somefish, shrimp, garlic or onion for flavor. Recipesvary, but the basic ingredients and proceduresare the same. Kmji powdered cassava starch,rice flour, or dried sago starch (from saga palmsin Eastern bwlonesia) is mixed with enough hotwater to form a thick paste. Terasi. made fromaged mssbed fish or shrimp. or freshly mashedfish or shrimp are added to the mixture, aboutone part to ten of kanji. Sometimes mashedgarlic or onions is added along with, or in placeof the fish or shrimp. Salt is added, about onequarter to one half as much salt as fish or otherflavoring agents, and the dough is kneadeduntil uniform.

The dough is shaped into thick cylinderswhich are wrapped in banana leaves to becooked in steam traysoverboiimg water for oneor two hours. The stili wrapped cylinders arecu; into thin round slices. Some Central Java-nese kmpuk manufacturers use a clever slicerwith a hinged cutter whose blade has a spacergap so that all the slices are uniformly thick,about 2 to 3 mm.

ifie siices are then set on trays to &y ii1 tiiesun. usualiy one day if the sun shines, longerduring the rainy season. The dried kmpuk canthen be packaged for sale to people who frytheir own kmpuk at home, or fried and pack-aged for sale as snacks. &fried krupuk can bestored for long periods, but once cooked it mustbe eaten quickly as it soon Ioses its crispness.

Kmpuk is usually fried in hot oil. Whendropped into the oil, it qlrickiy expands to alight cracker about four times the size of theuncooked chip. Sometimes the snack variety iscooked in big pans full of hot coarse sand. Thesand can be shaken free from the cookedkmpuk.

76 POST HARVEST

Banana RipeningiPisang

Bananas must be picked while still greenso they can be transported and stored. Afterpicking. the bananas continue to slowly ripenuntil they are sweet and yellow. There are waysof speeding up this ripening, which is importantfor people selling bananas; they must havelarge amounts of uniformly ripe fruit. Themost common method is placing the bananas ina closed container which is flooded with carbidegas. In a short time this gas turns the bananasbright yellow and causes the flesh to ripen.Bananas prepared in this fashion are attractiveand uniform, but the flesh is often harder andnor as sweet as naturally ripened bananas.

A traditional method in Bali producessweeter bananas. The bananas are hung insidean empty oil drum or large clay pot. The top isclosed with another clay bowl, the seam sealedwith ash and water paste. On top of this bowl isplaced a small perforated bucket fdled with ricehusks ignited to smou:der slowly. This bucket isrefilled with fresh husks as they burn down.The low heat thus produced accelerates thenatural ripening of the bananas and after aboutthree days. the fruit is ready for sale or con-sumption.

POST HARVEST 77

Cd&g StovesiTungku

For the past several years, the price ofkerosene has been suhsidized by the Indone-sian government to encourage its use as acooking fuel and reduce the strain on the forestsof Java and other heavily populated areas. Butmost people still use wood and agriculturalwastes such as corn stalks and rice husks fortheir cooking needs.

Some traditional wood and trash burningstoves are well designed for very small cookingfires. They confine the fire and its convectiveheat to the area under the pot, resulting inincreased efficiency compared to the pot-on-three-stones systems still used in a few areas.

The mngku are hand made from sandyclay. They come in a variety of sizes, from thosefor use by small families up to larger models foruse in busy food stands. Some have hvo or threeholes, providing equal heat if arranged side byside. The pot stands hold the cookpots on threeor more humps built into the stove top, allowingthe fire and heated air to pass up around thebase of the pot.

78 POST HARVEST

In areas where people have wooden floors.on boats or in houses built on stilts, stoves aredeGgned to hold the tire up in a container set offthe flo+r. These stoves usually include a spacein the front for coals and sticks which protrudeout the front of the tire. being pushed in as theyare consumed.

Many Javar.ese prefer cooking with char-coal. The an& is the most common type ofcharcoal stove. The perforated bowl-shapedtray on the top of the stove holds the pot withthe burning charcoal just underneath it. Thetire is fanned with a flat plaited bamboo kipasthrough the bole in the base of the stove, whichalso serves as an ash trap.

POST HARVEST 79

Rice Husk Stoves/Tungku Sekam

Rice husks, often regarded as a nuisanceby rice millers. can be used as a cooking fuel.Burning unaided. the husks smoulder slowly.not producing enough heat for cooking needs.There are a variety of different rice husk stoves(ttmzgku sekmd which employ one of two meth-ods to burn the husks for sufficient cookingheat.

The first type of rungku requires the addi-tion of small amounts of wood, bamboo or trashto assist the combustion of the husks. Thesetmgku are square or dome-shaped chamberswith one or more small doors at the base and ahole to hold a single cookpot at the top. Thethree-borne: srox shown here is actually threescparatc run& built together. which can befired up individually or simultaneously.

The tungku are filled with tightly packedhusks. with a channel leading from the door tothe center then straight up to the top of thestove. Once they are lit. they continue to bumuntil al! of rhe fuel is consumed. a period of on _to three hours, depending on the size of thetmgku.

RI! POST HARVEST

The stoves are filled by first placing around piece of wwd vertically in the center ofthe tugku. andacother in through the door, sothat they meet at a right angle. Rice husks arepoured into the turzgku and tightly packed bytamping them with another piece of wood orbamboo. The cleanly split husks from minihuller machines do not pack as well as thebroken husksfrompoundedrice, but this can beremedied by the addition of a small amount ofrice polishings or by dampeel?ing the husks.Husks are poured in and tamped until thetungku is full and then the wooden pieces arecarefull?- putled out. leaving an empty channel

in their place. .4 small fire is made with wood,bamboo or trash in the bottom opening. Thehusks ignite and slowly bum. Temperature iscontrolled by the addition or subtraction of fuelfrom the control fire; the stove can blazefiercely with only a small fire in the bottomopening. or if the supplementary fuel is extract-ed, the tire slowly smoulders. The messy load-ing process and large amounts of powdery ashproduced are the major disadvantages of thistype of stove.

POST HARVEST 81

t40 cm

I

82 POST HARVEST

Another more efficient type of stove em-ploys a chinxxzy to create a strong draft to burnthe husks. Seldom used io kitchens, theseturqku are usually found in cottage factoriesproducing krupuk, palm sugar or tahu. in orderto function properly. the stoves must be air-tight, sothecookpotsare usually built right intothe tops of the stoves.

These turzgku have a fuel hopper over thefire, from which the husks drop down onto agrate to burn. The smoke and hot air from thefire go up the chimney. drawing fresh air inthrough the grate located in the firebox mouth,to the flames.

.4 simple three-burner stove is used byproducers of gulu Jaw0 coconut sugar in EastJava. The pots can be removed from this stove.When they are set in place, the gaps aroundthem are sealed with ash and mud paste. Thegrate is a sheet of perforated iron and the small

,, fuel hopper is made from a bent piece of asphaltdrum. Ine floor of the stove air passage slantsupward towards the hvo meter chimney toimprove the draft and narrow the channel in the

,~ rear.

POST YARVEST 83

The most common type of rice hull stove isthe one used to boil soybean milk in themanufacture of tohu. The stove depicted herecan boil six to ten ISO-liter batches per daj.using up about I25 kg of rice husks.

The stove is made of masonry: fired brickswith plain cement-sand mortar. The largeround cast iron pot is cemented into the top ofthe stove. The slanted strap iron grate em-ployed in this stove bums the husks moreefCently than the previous example, but ismore expensive and difficult to replace when itwears out after three to five Years of constantuse. The 5 cm wide iron strips are arrangeddescending at an angle of about 60 degrees,with 4 or 5 cm spaces between them.

The husks fall onto the grate from thehopper. covering the entire grate with a layer ofhusks about 5 cm thick. Since the bottom isusually plugged with a pile of ashes, the air isdrawn through these husks on the grate. Theresulting tire is a roaring yellow blaze. Themasonry-and-clay-pipe chimney has an insidediameter of 20 cm and must be at least three or j

.zfour meters tall in order to create a strongenough draft for the fire. The firebox mouth is45 cm wide by 60 cm tall.

95 cm

84 POST HARVEST

The largest rice hull stoves found inIndonesia are those used to boil water fors teaming kmpuk in some large JavaneseEnrpuk factories. Four vats of water are keptboiling in stoves which consume a truckload ofhusks every four or five days. The smoke stacksare up to seven or eight meters tal!. Storinglarge amounts of this bulky fi?el is a nuisance,but the savings in fuel costs make it worthwhile.

The grate configuration is identical to thatof the tah~i stove above, only Large. The floor ofthe air passagexq I % tk stove slants upnard.toward the stack end, and the base of eacilkenle is slightly lower than the one in front of it,

narrowing the passage towards the rear of thestove and providing a more even distribution ofheat. Still. the rear two kettles are smaller thanthe front two and they do not get as much heat.

Racks of steam trays are stacked over theboiling water and large cylindrical sheet metalcovers are lowered over them from pulleys inthe ceiling above. The tungku has a loud roarand covers the surrounding neighborhood witha tine coat of white ash.

More information on rice hull stoves isavailable in Rice Husks as a Fuel by CraigThorburn, 1982 (available from P.T. TektonPress, Jl. Merapi 3. Jakarta, Indonesia).

~tc~~n UtensWE’erkakas Dapur

Indonesia boasts a tt~emendous variety oftraditional cooking in@rments. A catalogue ofall the different types and designs would end upbeing a work larger than this entire book. But afen of the most common types are similarthroughout the islands. These simple utilitar-ian tools have an elegant beauty and are oftencollected for their decorative value by peoplefrom modern industria; nations.

~4 few of the most common tools are:wooden or bamboo spatulas or flat spoonscalled wtortg. Shallo;v spoons made from sec-tions of coconut shell with long bamboo handlesarc calicd irus. whiie deeper scoops with thewoe construction are called serrggotnrz orrinrhu. Large scoops for dipping fried foodsfrom the hot oil are called serok. The traditionaldesign is made from apieceofbamboo, one endsplit into fine strips and plaited; now most serokare shallow cones of sheet metal with manysmall perforations. No Indonesian kitchen iscomplete without a Zemper or cow& the shal-low stone mortar and pestle for mashing chillipeppers and other spices. The masher is madeeither from soft wood or from the same basalticstone as the bowl.

POST HARVEST 85

The tenong steam tray is a less commontool, mostly used by producers and vendors ofsmall snacks which are cooked with steam. Theround trayswith slotted bottoms can be stackedseveral Iavers high, the base of one fittingsnugly over the iip of the next, then placed ontop of a boiling pot of water. The traditionalterzong is made from bamboo; it is beingreplaced by sheet metal tenong of similardesign and size.

86 WATER SUPPLY

.

/Pengelolahan Air

A good supply of clean drinking water isabsolutely vital for survival. Although Indo-nesia is a tropical country with high rainfall overmost of the land, during the dry season thewells and streams dry up in many areas. andfindiig enough wafer becomes an arduous andtime-consuming task.

Surprisingly, Indonesian villagers gener-aily show alackof ingenuity in dealing with thisabsolutely vital concern. In an area of CentralJava known for its dryness and extreme pover-ty. a development organization undertook anambitious program to assist the local popula-tion in constructing hundreds of ferro-cementand bamboo reinforced cement rainwatercatchment tanks to catch and store the waterrunning off roofs during the rainy season foruse later in the dry seasm when the wells andponds went dry. Conditions are normally so badin this area that in the last months of the dryseason water has to be brought in in trucks forthose villagers who have not ieft for the cities insearch of water and jobs. But after the tankswere built, most pwple began using the waterstored in the tanks during the rainy season andearly in the dry season. because it was moreconvenienr than going to a pond or well. So bythe time the ponds and wells began drying up,the catchmqt tanks were already dry, too.

The clwely related issue of sanitation andwaste disposal is made very difticult, and alsovery urgent, by the increasingly dense popula-tion. Most Indonesians boil their drinkingwater, (a!though not for the 20 minutes recom-mended by health experts), which indicates ageneral understan&g of the germ theory of--A^-:^..^C”,,L,x~,“UJ disc3scs. I1o=wever, ir. the **ax-ways practically no effort is made to segregatewashing areas and water supply areas fromareas used for defecating. Typhoid and choleraoutbreaks ate common.

WATER SUPPLY 87

can be carved into almost any shape. A simpleWater FiltersiSaringan Air deep cylindrical bowl makes a fine water filter.

The bowl is set in a stream or irrigation canal,Clean drinking water is a basic need xith its upper lip placed above the high water

shared by all people. Even in tropical zones line. Water seeps through the stone into thewith plentiful rainfall. a source of clean water bowl. leaving its contaminants in the outercan be a problem. In Bali, the sandstone batu layer of the stone. Clean water is scooped frompam commonly used for sculptures and build- the bowl with a long-handled timba.ing construction can also be used to fdter 2. Rainwater eatehment tank with filterdrinking water. and gravity soppIy system:

Sandstone filters remove sediment, some The durable, attractive grass thatch roofscolor. taste and smell. They are especially traditionally used on Balinese houses have oneuseful for obtaining drinking water from small major drawback: they collect dust which dirtiesstreams and irrigation ditches. or for removing the rainwater falling on the roof. and the drysediment and color from rainwater collected off grass can impart an unpleasant color and tastethe grass roofs of Balinese houses. Two ex- to the water. These problems can be solved byamples are shown below: filtration. One Balinese home in Ubod has a

wl filter for w in streams and clever filter installed in the center of its largerainwater catchment tank. Water is drawn from

Dense. evenly textured sandstone, such as the filter into a gravity feed system whichis used for sculptures and building decorations. supplies the kitchen and bath. Sandstone

Sundsrnrre bowl.filrer.

: . . . .:

88 WATER SUPPLY

blocks. a common constrwtion material in Bali,are cemented into a hollow cube located in thecenter of the large masonry catchment tank.The top 3f this cube extends above the highwater line of the tank. and is covered withremovable stone blocks. Water seeps throughthe stone blocks whenever the water levelinside thefdter~:?efalls below that of the diiywater in the outside part of the tank. A galvan-ized iron pipe pierces the side of the tank andextends through the side of the filter cube,drawing clean filtered water for use for cookingand bathing.

The outside surface of the stone filters will

slowly clog with accumulated silt and othercontaminants. Occasionally, this surface mustbe scrubbed with a stiff brush to assure thatplenty ofwater can flow through the stone intothe inside of the filter. If possible, the filtershould occasionally t,? dried in the sun to

Water drawn from a sandstone filter maystill contain dangerous bacteria and must beboiled before drinking. Fortunately. almost allIndonesians do boil their drinking water tomake tea, and therefore educational efforts inthis field only need assure that they boil thewater long cnwgh the destro:’ any dangerousbacteria.

WATER SUPPLY 89

Bamboo Wand Pump/Pomps Bambu

i‘he use of a handpump to raise water fromwells has several advantages over buckets orother methods: it is easier and faster, and thewells remain cleaner because dirt from the topand sides of the well does not get knocked intothe water. In fact, wells can and should becovered if a pump is used. Most rural Indo-nesians recognize the advantages of usingpumps to draw their drinking water, but thehigh cost of cast iron “Dragon” pumps pre-vents most villagers from owning them. How-ever, in West Java a village craftsman hascreated a handpump made entirely of materialsavailable in villages; large bamboo. wood.nai!s. shoe leather, inner tube rubber, and afew bolts and iron scraps. These pumps areinexpensive, east to maintain, and can iastseveral years. The bamboo pumps can raisewater from depths up to about 7 meters.

The water is pulled and pushed by a pistonwhich moves up and down in the cylinder tube.The piston employs leather seals and tits snuglyinto the cylinder. A long wooden handleattached to ? fulcrum is used to move the pistonup and down.

Vital to the operation of the pump are thetwo one-way valves on the small bamboo tubeswhich connect the cylinder tube to the other twotubes. Each simple valve is made by tacking apiece of innertube rubber reinforced withgalvanized iron sheet on the end of a bambootube. so that it will open or close depending onthe direction of the water flow. The pump partsare held in place by lashing to a heavy woodenbeam which is set across the top of the well.

90 WATER SUPPLY

How the Pump Works:

The pimping cycle requires hvo strokes;up and down. On the up stroke, the handle ispushed down. polling the piston upward in thecylinder and drawingwater up through the firstone-way valve. into the cylinder chamber belowthe piston. The second one-way \,alve. leadingtu of the cylinder into the delivery tube, is heldclosed by suction during this stroke.

The second stroke is made by lifting thehandle. forcing the piston down. The firstone-way valve c!oses, preventing the waterfrom returning down the inlet tube. Instead, thewater in the cylinder is forced by the pistonthrough the second one-way valve and up ar,dout through the delivery spoxt. This stroke endswith the handle returned to the first position,ready to begin another cycle. Each cycle of twostrokes pumps abotit one half liter of water.

\

WATER SUPPLY 91

Most of the pump parts are made frommature large-diameter <8 to 10 cm) bamboo.This bamboo should be treated by soaking inwater for several weeks before using; other-wise, it will stink and taint the well water afterthe pump is installed.

The valves should be made first. Two 15cm sections are sawn from 4 cm diameterbamboo. Both ends of each tube are whittled totaper so that they will fit snugly into holes boredinto the pump tubes. An egg-shaped piece ofinnertube rubber is cut with the round endmatching the shape and size of the end of thevalve tube and the elongated end overlappingthe outside of this tube by about % cm. Next apiece of sheet metal is cut in the same shape,then cut into two pieces, divided by a straightline near the round top end. This cut allows therubber valve to hinge, while the two pieces ofmetal stiffen and reinforce the rubber valve.Four or five small holes are punched around theround edge of the small upper piece, tacks aredriven through these holes, the upper edge ofthe rubber flap, and into the end of the bambootube, firmly attaching the flap to the tube. Thelarger metal piece is fastened to the rubber flapwith a small bolt through the center. The flapshould be able to open andclosefreely, with therubber gap between the two metal pieces actingas a hinge.

The cylinder tube is made next. A stronground section of 8 to 10 cm diameter bamboowith at least 45 to 50 cm between the joints isselected. The bottom is cut off a few centi-meters below the joint, the top is sawn off about4Scmabove that joint. Two holes are cut for theone-way valves; the inlet hole is made just 2 or 3cm above the joint, andthe outlet hole is made afew centimeters higher and 90 degrees to theside. The holes must be carefully cut so that thevalve tubes fit tightly into them.

The piston is then constructed to tit into thecylinder. Tworound blocks of hardwood are cuton a lathe or carved by hand. The upper block isconical with the bottom diameter about ‘/I to 1cm larger than the top. The block is 2 to 4 cmthick and the bottom diameter should be % cmsmaller than the inside diameter of the cylindertube. A 1 ‘/I cm hole is bored through the centerof this top block. The bottom block has straightsides. with a diameter about 1 cm smaller thanthe inside diameter of the cylinder tube. A holeis drilled through the center of this secondblock. too. These blocks tit snugly onto thepiston rod, a3 by 3 cm piece of hardwood 45 cmlong with the bottom end whittled to fit throughthe holes. Three round pieces of leather are cutfor piston seals. (Discarded shoes are a goodsource of leather for this.) The top seal has thesame diameter as the bottom edge of the upperblock, % cm smaller than the cylinder tube. Themiddle seal is cut 4 to 5 cm larger in diameter.The bottom seal is cut with a diameter about 1cm iarger than the diameter of the cylinder.Holes are punched in the center of the seals sothat they can be tit onto the piston rod betweenhvo blocks. The parts are assembled and a nailor wooden pin is placed through the rod justbelow the bottom block to hold the parts tightlyin place. A hole is drilled through the top of thepiston rod to connect it to the pump handle.

92 WATER SUPPLY

The bamboo tube for drawing the waterinto :he pump must be lcng enough to reachfrom the water level in the well to the p”mp.This tube is instalied upside-down. with thelarge end at the top connected to the pump andthe small end set in the base of the well. All ofthejoints arc knockedout. except the one at theend which will be next to the pump when thetube is installed. These joints should be leftrough; they help slow the water as it movesback down the tube between strokes. Water isnot drawn through the end of the tube. butrather through holes cut in the sides near theend. In deeper wells. it is advisable to installanother one-way valve in the intake tube nearthe base. with the flap on the inside so thatwater drawn in cannot flow back out again.Finally. a hole is cut near the top of the tube forthe valve which connects it with the cylindercube.

The length of the delivery tube is deter-mined by the position of the pump and the well;the water spout should empty at a convenientlevel. The bottom joint of the delivery tube isleft intact. Two holes arc cut in the tube, onenear the base for the connecting tube from thecylinder. and another near the top for the spout.

All the parts are lashed to a strong woodenbeam which is cut to sit fumly on the top of thewell. Notches are cut in the sides of the beam toreceive the three bamboo tubes. All of the jointsbenveen bamboo pump parts are painted withwood primer or another material which pro-

vides a good seal, and the tubes are lashed inplace with strongwire or rope which will not rotwhen wet.

After the pump is assembled and installedin the well, it is ready for use. To start, the usermust prime the pump by pouring some waterdown into the c$inder to wet the cylinder sidesand the leather piston seals. After that, a fewtigorous strokes should bring water pouringforth from the spout.

Transportation/Pengangkutan

Indonesia is a petroleum producing andexporting country. but per capita consumptionof fossil fuels in the country remains low.Domestic consumption has risen considerablyduring the last decade as more and moremotorized vehicles have come into use.Indonesia’s highways are crowded with buses.trucks. and a variety of smaller public transportvehicles. Ownershipof private motorcycles andcars is on the rise. too. But most short-haulfreight and much passenger traffic still moveshv Herman QT ~r.izxx! po\isr. making use of a\x:ide variety of locally produced vehicies. Someof these vehicles are slowi>- disappearing fromthe srcnc. rendered obsolete by more modernIUIC‘S. But some are exTremely practical andappropriate to existing conditions in the coun-try and shall remain on Indonesia’s highwaysfor decades to come. to the continuing annoy-ance of the drivers of faster motorized vehicles.Following a brief overview of Indonesianvehicles. a few of these indigenous means oftransport will be described in the followingsection.

Human muscle power still plays a majorrole in Indonesia’s transportation system.Crops, forest products, handicrafts. and othergoods are carried along narrow paths on shoul-der poles. backpacks. in selendang cloth slings.

TRANSPORTATION 93

(II‘ on top of the head. Vendors carry their waresaround cities and towns. The bicycle and bcvuk.or trishxv. two of the most efficient machineseve r cicatcd. carry tremenduus loads oversometimes great distances:. Two-wheeledbarrows and carts are commonly used in thecities for building material delivery and trashcollection. and by vendors hawking their waresin residential areas.

Draft animais are still widely used inIndonesia. Pack horses are used in somemountainous areas. More common are a varietyof gerobuk (carts). small ones pulled by a singlehorse orcow. and very large ones drawn by two

cows. Ornatccarriages, calleddelman. bmdiorandorrg. are still used to carry passengers inSunda. Java, Bali and parts of Sumatra.

Modern motorized traffic in Indonesiabears little resemblance to that of Westernnations. Thousands of small Japanese motor-cycles zip in and out between the trucks, busesand cars. often carrying as many as 4 or 5people. or loads more suited for a pickup truck.Three or four rheeled berms, with 2-strokeengines fill the air of most cities with their

94 TRANSPORTATION

grat ing roar ant’ blue smoke. These tinq.vehicles carry 7 to 12 passengers cramtaxed ontotwo benches facing one another in the back.Opler. small buses made from 1930’s to early1960’s model American and European pickupsand cars. seem to set new endurance recordsdaily as their ancient engines and suspensionstransport up to 30 passengers at a time, reach-ing roads more suited for mountain climbersthan 4 wheeled traffic. Colt andMikr&t Japan-ese pickups and minibuses are supposed to bereplacing the venerable opkt. but most peopledoubt that they will last that long. Buses andtrucks carry loads far beyond their rated capa-city at speeds that would be unsafe on the bestof roads. making Indonesia’s highways some ofthe most dangerous in the worlL

There are trains in Java and Sumatra.though the amount of track in use has droppedsince colonial times when the system was built.Ancient wood-burning steam locomotives, in-cluding some of the oldest working engines inthe world, still operate alongside modemdiesels.

Althoug:i it is a nation of more than 13,CWislands, Indonesia lacks a modern merchantmarine. The Bugis of Sulawesi, once the mostfeared and respected seamen from Madagascarto Taiwan. still OS= and operate the largestwind-powered sailing fleet in the world. Somesmall motorized freighters ply the islands, butin many of the outlying areas, the price of basiccommodi$es and consumer goods is more de-pendent Upon the prevailingwinds than domes-tic and international market factors. There is agovernment program of low-interest loans andother assistance to motorize the fishing andcoastal sailing fleet.

Indonesia has three government airlinesand a few small private carriers. The fleetranges from prop-driven planes to large inter-continental jets. Poor management and lack ofnavigational equipment cause many delays andcancellations. Indonesian domestic air serviceis one of the most wpensive per kilometer in theworld.

From the variety and number of vehicleson the move throughout the country, one getsthe impression that most Indonesians spendmost of their time travelling.

Shoulder Poles! Pikul

A springy section of strong thick bamboo.strong legs. and calloused shoulders combineto form one of the most common means oftransporting cargo in Indonesia. Pikrrl is theIndonesian term for carrying things on shoulderpoles. It is also the name for the shoulder poleitself. In many dialects. it also denotes ameasure of weight or volume; the amountwhich a man can comfortable pikd. about 40 to50 kg.

The shoulder poles are usually made frombamboo. The base of a large mature bamboo issrctioned into quarte:s or sixths. These sec-tions are cut to a length of 120 to 200 cm.d?pcnding on the type of load +a be carried. TheCCIIICI’ which rests upon the shoulder is about 4r<)5 cm wide: the ends are tapered ro give themmore spring. Both ends have notches or pegs tohold the rope. rattan or bamboo used to hangthe loads. The nodes are removed and the polesare scraped smooth: with use they take on ahigh polish.

A limitlessvarietyof items are transportedin this manner. The container and hangingmethod vary with the nature of the load. A feuexamples presented below demonstrate theversatility and practicalit:: ofpikdas a means oftransport.

TRANSPORTATION 95

A vegetable vendor carries more than adozen different types of vegetables and fruits,along with spices and other household neces-sities in his “walking market.” Each item isarranged in individual rattan baskets lashed tothe rattan frame of his fxXu/.

At closing time, the owner of this “porta-ble restaurant” packs up his snacks, utensils,stove, pots. pans and stool and carries itall home. returning the next day with a freshsupply of food and drinks. Most of the pre-paration is done at home: the only cooking doneon Cite is to heat the snacks.

96 TRANSPORTATION

A hpuk vendor carries comically large tincans of his product. Knrpuk are fried crackersmade of cassava. rice r wheat flour flavoredwith fish. shrimp and spices. Tt.ry are verylight fvr their volume. hence the huge cans arenot n:i heal.\ as they appear.

“Kov~pw~g bulldozers” are common atconstruction and earthmoving crojectsthroughout Indonesia. Lxge crews of I,.. n digand til! their scoop-shaped bamboo basketswith earth and sand, hoist them and quicklycarry them off to be dumped e:sewhere.

One very ttseful type of pi/u! found inSunda and Java is the sundung. The triangularbamboo frames can carry large amounts of longstackable material lie grass. firewood, or leafand root vegetables. They are particularly con-

venient for gathering grass or firewood becausethe cargo can be stacked into the sundung as itis picked up, instead of being assembled intofull loads and then bundled for translxx-t.

A man experienced at carrying things bypikul develops a characteristic gait. His hipsswing, but the upper hali’of his body is almoststill. causing the load to bob only slightly. Hetimes rapid short steps to coincide with theupswing of the bouncing load. He can shift theload from one shoulder to the other by rotatingthe pole into position, bouncing the load up-ward. and then twisting his shoulders withoutever losing stride.

TRANSPORTATION 97

Birycles/Sepeda

The bicycle is one of the most efficientmachines ever developed by man. Bicyclingmakes more effective use of human energy thanwalking. Besides carrying the rider. bicyclescan be used to transport another passenger. orlarge amounts of freight. A bicycle equippedwith carrying baskets can carry more weightthan a walking man. over longer distances andin less time. as long as the surface is suficientlyhard and smooth for a bicycle to pass.

Most bicycles sold in Indonesia are equip-ped with a 13 by 30 cm luggage rack boltedabove the rear wheel. Besides doubling as apassenger seat. this rack can support speciallymade baskets or boxes for cargo transport. Atrrmcndous variety of cargos are carried onbic:,~clrs in this way. and often the weight orhulk of the load seems stagering. Some ex-amp!cs are shown be’--:

The top drawing is of a fruit vendor return-ing home with his empty baskets. Two largebamboo baskets are hung from the sides of theluggage rack on 2 bamboo poles which passthrough holes near the tops of the baskets. Athird basket is set on top of the other two toincrease theload capacity. This top basket, andany cargo that sticks out above the tops of thebaskets is strapped hto place with a section ofbicycle inner tube. Bicycles like this often carrywell over 100 kg of freight.

One very convenient type of bicycle carry-ing basket is the Yogyakarta kronjof. Thisdouble basket. constructed in one piece fromstrips of bamboo, can be easily removed whennot in tzse. Kronjor are made in various sizes.f;om about 25 by 30 by 30 cm to 30 by 40 by 50cm for large loads.

Tuhu bean curd cake vendors use specialwooden racks which hold 20 liter rectangularcans to transport their product. The fragilecubes of rahu float in water inside the cans. Onebicycle usua!ly carries 4 cans, weighing asmuch as SO kg when full.

98 TRANSPORTATION

4 krupuk fried shrimp cracker vendor usesa comically large sheet metal box to carry hisproduct. Tbe big box is di\-ided in!o 3 or 4separate compartmenrs to care- different typesof krqwk. Brcansc fried kmprrk is light andairy. !he bvs which dwarfs the bicy& and riderweighs no moth !hazi 50 or 64) kg whw full.

Sonletimcs bicycles capa! cargoes so largethat the bicycle has to be rushed instead ofridden. The load of pots being pushed to marketappears to be gilding along above the ground.The bicycle is loaded so fully- that ir cannot besteered. and is pushed from behind. To turn thebike. the man srops. walks arowd to the front.and lifts the b+le to point in in the newdirection. This load is at Least 3 timesas large asloads that can be carried on a pikul shoulderI-“‘lC.

TRANSPORTATION 9 9

Trisbv/Becak

Like the bicycle. the pedal-powered beaktrishaw makes efficient use of human musclepower to transport passengers and freight.Introduced by the Japanese during Wrrld WarIL beak soon became one of the most commonforms of transportation in Ja:;a’s chies andtowns. In Bali, Sumatera and a few otherplaces. becak are not used. as using human

power to transport other humans is considereddegrading. The Indonesian government is alsohying to eliminate beak because the?, congestttaflic in the crowded cities. The first moderncloverleaf interchange built ir! Jakarta duringPresident Sukamo’s time has speciai becaklanes twisting under it; now those lanes areused for motorcycles. Most maju cities nowhave leak-free mnzs, and eventually becakwill be banned entirely. They employ thou-sands of people. but becak drivers are a n::rnr-iously rowdy and unruly group. Though somedrivers own their own becuk, most rent them.This also is a source of annoyance to thegovernment: most of the owners are Chinese.

Except for the running gear. wheel rimsand spokes, and drivers’ seats. becak areentirely manufactured by local craftsmen. The

100 TR4NSPORTATION

sturdy frames are welded iron pipe and rod; thefenders are heaq sheet metal. The passengercompertrxnt has a metal frame with woodensides and hack. The padded seat is removable.Thecanopy is made of heavy oiled canvas, witha metal frame which can be folded down forlarge loads or wening cruising.

Tine brakes operate by pressing two chunksof tire rubber against the rear wheel rim.Unfortunately, front wheel brakes would becomplicated to build and keep adjusted, so thebeak driver must depend on only the backwheel for stopping. The brake lever is locatedbetween the driver’s legs, sometimes connect-ed :o a pedal attached to the frame above thecrankset.

The undercatiage is very well designed.The axle is clamped to short leaf springs madefrom used auromobile springs. The bicycleframe is attached to the front carriage justbehind the axle by a sturdy headset whichemploys locally cast and turned cone-shapedbrass bushings. This part must be very strongto support the tremendous torque and load.

Even the front hubs are locally produced,turned from aluminum with steel spokeflanges. Ball bearings tit snugly into the huband over the lathed end of the iron lxv axle.

Becuk from different areas differ in theshapes ot their carriages, cloth tops and fen-ders, and in their dazzling paint jobs. Brrcakdecoration is one of Indonesia’s many fascina-ting living art forms, its techniques and origin-ality unsurpassed by almost an.’ other art formcurrently practiced.

Beak carry large loads; two to four peopleor a large pile of freight. Before the governmenteliminates beak. means will have to be avail-able to replace the enormous transportationservice that they provide.

TRANSPORTATION 101

Freight Tricycle/Becak Pengangk~t Barang

In Sumatera. pedal-powered becak are notused to transport passengers, but only to carryfreight. This vehicle is called a becgk dayung,meaning “pedalled” be& distinguishing itfrom the motorcycles equipped with specialsidecars, also called beak, which transportpassengers on that island. The becak dayung,identical to the trishaw common in Malaysiaand Singapore, has a third wheel and carriagebolted onto the right side of the bicycle frame.The platform of this carriage can be loaded withup to 500 kg of freight. Except for the speciallyreinforcedforks. thebicycleisa standard heavyduty model imported from Chiia.

The heavy-duty bicycle frame is alteredslightly to accommodate the beak carriage andthe heavy loads it will carry. Becak forks aremade of heavier gauge pipe and have twobrackets at the top, one above and one belowthe headset, instead of forking into the tubewhich tits into the headset as on regular bikes.A second top tube is welded to the frame belowthe original one, and a Xl-degree seat post isinstalled to allow the seat to be adjustedforward as well as up and down. Riders claimthat the forward seat position allows them abetter posture for pedalling the heavy loads.

The 48-tooth front chainwheel is replacedwith one that has either 36 or 24 teeth, depend-ing on the size and type of loads the becak willbe carrying, and the local terrain.

102 TRANSPORTATION

fhe i ron f rame of the becak dayungcarriage is manufauured from l-, %-. andX-inch ungalvanized iron pipe, with a %/*-inchsolidiron axle. It is very strong, usually outlast-ing the bicycle by several years.

The carriage is connected to the bicycleframe by three iron clamps welded onto pipesockets, which screw onto the ends of thecarriage frame members. Each clamp is madeof two pieces of 3 mm iron plate bent blto a halfcylinder with flanges top and bottom for fourbolts. When installed, these clamps are linedwith pieces of bicycle inner tube rubber. A rodextends from the seat post bolt to a flangewelded onto the carriage axle to keep thebicycle rigid and to prevent freight from fallinpagainst the rear wheel.

TRANSPORTATlON 1 0 3

The end of the carriage axle is !athed toaccomodate the wheel bearings and a bolt. Theinner bearing has an inside diameter of 25 mmand tits snugly against the welded flangelocated just outside the fender assembly. Theouter bearir:g fits onto the 20 mm diametersection near the end of the axle. and the huband bearing assembly is heid in place by a3%inch nut.

Side view of the carriage frame. The longstraight pieces are l-inch pipe and most otherstructural members are X-inch pipe, with shortstruts made of %-inch pipe. The fender spokes

Section view of the axle assembly, thestrongest pan of the frame. The axle is %-inchiron bar. The diagonal struts are 3&inch ironrod. and the other parts are %-inch pipe.

104 TRANSPORTATION

Plan view of the carriage frame. Thewooden platform boards bolt onto the pipes atthe front and rear of the frame

The three wheels are laced with specialspokes to take the heavy loads. Specially re-inforced forks, the carriage frame and the hubare all manufactured in Medan in northernSumatera. They are sent to cities throughoutSumatera, where they are painted, assembled,and have the wooden platform installed. Thissturdy becak selis for less than twice the price ofa standard bicycle.

CaridGerobak

Two-wheeled geroboR, carts or barrows,pushed or pulled by one or two people, are onlypractical on smooth relatively flat roads. Evenin the towns and cities where these conditionsexist, gembak are not used as much as becak orpikd. Indonesian gembak are made in varioussizes, of varying strength and constructiondepending on their purpose. They use bicycle,motorcycle, automobile or truck wheels, de-pending on the size and weight of the loadcarried. Gerobah are used mostly for garbagecoWztion. short-distance transport of buildingmaterials, and vending of food and household

gaxls.Most building material outlets own a few

,gembak for local deliveries. The gerobak useautomobile wheels, the hubs welded to a pipeaxle. The box measures about 40 X SO X 75 cm.

&I 33 mi

.- - 1

u-

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70 cm

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It can be filled with sand, bricks, or cement, andlarger materials can be lashed on top. One mancan pull up to 200 or 300 kg of materials withsuch a gembak.

TRANSPORTATION 105

Transporting heavy teak iogs from depotsto sawmills requires larger, stronger gerohak.‘These sturdy CII?S use automobile or truckat,et’- -.i axles. usu?llv:Se rear axle with thedifferm!ial r e m o v e d . T-7 > me: c-.,~? pu>hingm: i c:~tc gu!big, \id~ tram+-+ t o g s wighingover a *on.

Kaki lima, meaning “five feet.” is thename given to vendors who use gerobak totransport their wares. The name comes fromthe vendor’s OWI feet, plus two wheels and apeg to support the cart when stopped. Somekukilima sell vegetables, kerosene, brooms, orother household necessities, while others acttu-ally push around complete kitchens, sellingnoodles, sate (chicken or goat meat cooked onskewersi. drinks, or other foods. The gerobak ‘sdisiinctive shape and decx, along with thevendor’s pa.‘ticu!ar call, knocking, ringing orwhistle clearly identify what is being sold as thevendor pushes his gerobak through residentialstreets.

106 TRANSPORTATION

Animal-drawn carts. sometimes pulled bya horse, but usually by oneor wo cows. are alsocalled grrobuk. These gerobuk are still verycommon in villages and rural areas. where theyare used to transport crops from the field. ormaterials such as bricks. firewood or bamboopoles to places where they can be sold or loaded

~ trucks for longer trips. S-me gerobak stilliw;e wooden wheels, like this example from:est Java. The steel rims of the locally craftedwhee!s can cut into asphalt pavement if thegrrobm is carrying a heay Ioad, and the use ofvehicl-s without rubber tires is now outlawedon some roads. More common than steel rimsare rubber rims made by nailing strips of trucktire to the wooden wheels.

Animal-drawn gerohuk were introduced toIndonesia aoout the twelfth century. With theexception ofthe truck wheelsand real axle, andthe sheet-metal roof. this Yogpakarta gwhrkis identical to the ancient Indian carts uponwhich it is mod~lled. The brightly decoratedsides xc m:: j* ~4 wovw~ rattan and bamboo.The cows i ‘-’ ,,I 8.r jtectcd with slippers madefrom ru! ‘XL ~. tied on with straps of thesame li;-; ,rial.

TRANSPORTATION 107

Hamamde Minibus/Oplet

Chevrolet. Ford, Morris and Fiat sedansand pickup trucks Gth locally-made hardwoodand sheet-metal bodies and benches are cal!edqAv. The front ofthecarortruck, asfarbackasthe windscreen and dashboard, is original. Thecab is replaced by a larger hody made of astrong hardwood frame and sheet-metal skin.Behind the driver’s bench are one or two morebenches facing forward, and in the back sec-tion, reached through a rear-facing door, arehvomore parallel benches with an empty spacebetween for cargo.

Although officially allowed to carry only 9passengers, o&r often carry as many as 25people and their goods, or freight weighing asmuch as a ton or more. They can crave! overroads and pathways that are impassabie to mostother vehicles.

O&t engines are usually serviced onlywhen they completely cease to run. They mustbe torn down and rebuilt about once each year.The bodies iast about 5 years, the last one or

two of those in a rickety and patched condition.Then they are torn down to the chassis andcompletely rebuilt. Sometimes two or three oldopkt contribute parts for the construction ofone new one.

The Indonesian government has latelybeen trying to replace the o&t with moremodem vehicles, outlawing them in certaincities or parts of cities, and giving their routesto recent Japanese-made Colt or Microletvehicles. The result of this policy has been thatthe durable and tenacious o&t are beingmoved out into the villages, providing betterand regular transportation sewice to more andmore remote areas.

106 TRANSPORTATION106 TRANSPORTATION

Bamh Truss Bridge/Bamh Truss Bridge/

Jembatan BzmbuJembatan Bzmbu

Aithough roads passable to motor vehiclesnow reach many of rural Indonesia’s remotevillages, a majority of commerce and traffic inthe villages still moves on foot. Much of thecountry is mountainous and has high rainfall;the terrain is criss-crossed with streams andrivers. Local communities build and maintain

bridges to cross these streams* These rangefrom single poles to treacherous swaying sus-pension bridges.

One of the most common designs, used tocross streams between 3 and 13 meters wide, isthe elegant A-frame truss bridge. The bridgederives-its strength from the-two A-shapidtrusses made by crossing four (two to a side)

TRANSPORTATiON !O’

s:i-ks of split bamboo or parailrl bambc.:) poles.Memb-rs of the ctimmuniiies that use the

bridges hoild agd maintain them. Minor repairsare made on the spot by whoever sees the loosolashing or cracked pole. If a ma.jor overhaul isneeded. a go~rvr~-n+v~n,q work party is or-ganized to rebuild ihc bridge. (Goto~rg-r~yongis a participatory. “ban-raising” approach tocommunity work which is a strong Indonesiantradition.)

110 CONSTRUCTION

Architecture, Housing and Canstruction/Arsitektur, Perumahan dan Bangunan

Indigenous systems of family and com-munity shelter design throughout Ind nesiahave evolved to fit local conditions. Besidesusing locally available materials, they areusually well suited to local environmental con-ditions.

The appropriateness of traditional designsin Indonesia was apparent in the aftermath ofthe 1976 earthquake in Northern Bali, whichcaused many caswJties and great destructionof property. The day after *he quake. news-papers carried pictures of some of the devas-tatedvillages. The only structures left standingwere traditional rice barns and some old stylehwscs owned by villagers reluctant (for cul-fural or financial reasons) to build more“modern” homes. Hundreds of newer build-ings, including schools. offices, houses andclinics. were reduced to rubble. many buryinghelpless victims inside.

Indonesia offers almost as many architec-tural designs as there arc villages. Indigenoushousing includes crude treehouses in the for-ests of Central Sulawesi, enormous Dayaklonghouses sheltering whole communities in‘Kalimantan. cool and serene Javanese Jo&.beautifully decorated homes of the Batak,Toraja and Minang people. the dwellings onstilts and the boars of the Badjo communities,the hastily constrxted slums built from trashwhich house thousands of newcomers inIndonesia’s major cities in surprisingly orderlyand sanitary conditions, and many more equal-ly unique designs. Most of these structures andsystems display a high level of understandingof the properties of the indigenous materialsemployed. and a deep sense of harmony withthe surrounding environment.

Fired BriddBata

Red clay bricks. fired at a re!ativcly lowtemperaturc. are a common building materialin many parts of Indonesia. Although there arcsome modern extrusion-prwcss manufacturingplants near Jakarta and scme other majorcities, most of Indonesia’s bricks. called baru,are made by smalt producers molding thebricks by hand. Proximity toa market. light claysoil. and availabiiiw of fuel are the only require-ments for setiing up a boto business.

Fuel is the major expense. Rubber wood isa popular fuel where ir is available; robber treesshould be cut down when 25 years old andreplaced. Acacia and other fast-growing vari-etics of trees are being pianted on land poorlywitcd for other agricultural purposes in moun-!ainous areas or southern Java. to be harvestedand sold as fuel for brick fwing. The Depart-ment of Industry sold hundreds of keroseneburners to brick producers. correctly claimingthat bricks fired with Fhese burners reachhigher and more even temperatures. Unfor-tunately, a few years later, supply problemsforced the government to ban the use of kero-sene by industry. Burning diesel fuel in theseburners caused them FO corrode quickly.

Bricks are made from light clay loam.Heavy soils aitb too mu& clay shrink, crackand warp in dp.?.ing and E&g. Soils with toomuch sand produce weak. crumbly bricks.

CONSTRUCTION 111

Commonly. the top 20 centimeters of soilfrom a fallow rice paddy arc stripped off andused for hortr production. Often banks of riversor hills are cut away. slow~ly changing thetopography of clay-hearing areas. Alluvialplains provide the best clay for bricks: it hasbeen mixed with sand and deposited by a river.

The clay should be very soft and even forbum production. It is mixed with water in asmall pit. then mashed by stepping up anddown in it until it becomes soft and uniform.Some brickmakers use buffalo. walking themaround in a pit filled with clay. It is best if theclay is then left overnight and mashed again thefollowing day, but very few brickmakers botherto do this.

A well-tamped flat area is needed to makethe bricks. Sandorash is spread on the surface,sod a mold is set in place and tilled with clay.The clay is then smoothed until the tops of thebricks are flat and even with the top of the mold.If care is taken to squeeze the clay into thecorners of the mold, to assure that the texture iseven throughout with no cavities or impurities,

112 CONSTRUCTION

and to smooth the top. the product will be ofrelatively good qua!ity.

After 1 is 3 days in the sun. depending onthe weather. the bricks can be stacked infence-like rows with spaces for air circulation.Then they are alloaed to dry slowly for 3 to 5weeks, until ready for tiring.

The bricks arc fired in kiins. The bricks arestacked with small spaces between them toallow the heat to rise. At the bottom of the

“Red Cement”/Semen Merah

Portland cement is expensive in Indonesia,andoften unavailable invillages. Many alterna-tive wortars are used by village masons. thebeet o f wh ich i s s emen merah, or “ r e dCCIII~II~.” Propcrl~ prepared this mortar canbe used for tw-story houses and even smalland medium-sized irrigation dams.

Semen rnerah is made from pulverized redbricks. burnt Eime. and sand. Some buildingmaterial suppliers now ha--e diesel-poweredgrinding machines to pulverize the brokenbricks they obtain from brickworks and demoli-tion sites. but most villagers still crush theirown bricks, pounding them with sticks weight-ed at one end with a section of iron pipe.

After the brick is thoroughly crushed. themixture is prepared with the following propor-tions:

1 part crushed brick1 part lime2 pans sand

The lime should be good quality. contain-ing at least 75% calcium oxide. Lime madefrom cx4 is unsuitable for making semen

stacks are large tunnels fo.. the fires. Typical:illage kilns hold betwee:: 5000 and 50.000bricks. and require 2 to 4 days for firing. Somebrickmakers do not use a permanenl kiln. butmake a kiln out of the unlircd bricks by sealingthe outsides and top of the stack with mud andash. The brick:; on the outside of these stacks donot reach high enough temperatures and mustbe fired again. Proper firing requires temp-eratures of 800 to 1000 degrees centigrade.

wwrulr. The sand should be fine-grained andfree of silt and other impurities.

After the ingredients are combined theyare sifted through a wire or bamboo sieve.removing any remaining chunks of brick andthoroughly mixing the ingredients. Enoughwater is stirred into the mound tu form a thickpaste, which is applied to the bricks like ordi-nary mortar. It dries hard in 4 days to a week. Ifthe bricks are clean, the mortar can form a verystrong bond. Semen merol: mortar resistsmoisture well. especially if the finished mason-ry is given a coat of plaster.

Semen met-ah is too coarse to make a goodplaster; buildings are usually plastered with acement and sand mixture.

114 CONSTRUCTION

beige or light grey in color. This procedure isused to test rrass:

1. Goodrrass shouldpasseasiiy through a 2.5by 2.5 mm screen, leaving no chunks or rocksbehind. Halfof it should pass through a0.21 by0.21 mm screen.

2. Mix 2 parts fross with 1 part lime and 1 partwater, stirring until it is thoroughly mixed.

3. Place this mixture in a bucket or othercontainer, then cove: it with a few centimetersof water.

4. In 3 days, the mixhue should have hard-ened into the shape of the mold.

The following process is used to producebcmko:

1. A part lime is mixed with 3 to 5 parts tTass.then sprinkled with water and stirred until itforms a crumbly, homogenous mass.

2. The mixture is scooped into a box-shapedmetal mold open on the top and botrom.

3. The mixture is pounded with a bmadwooden mallet until compact.

4. The rap of the brick is smoothed with a

Wood and Bamboo PreservationPengawetan Kay clan Bambu

Indonesia’s damp tropical climate causesrapid decomposition of organic materials. In atropical rain forest, this rapid decay, aided by aprofusion of insect, fungus. bacteria and para-sitic plant varieties, assures the rapid return ofnutrients to the soil, a vital step in the life cycleof the forest. But for wnstruction~in the sameregion, this decomposition process becomes aserious problem. When wood and other plantproducts such as bamboo and palm leaves areused for construction, they must first be treatedto assure that they will be resistant to rot,termites and boring beetles. Indonesian vii-lagers found the appropriate method in naturemany centuries ago. Nearly all wood andbamboo used for building in Indonesia is treat-ed by a very simple process before use.

Freshly cut wood or bamboo is submergedin water for at least three months. Any body offresh water will do, but ponds and lakes arepreferable to rivers. The wood is held downwith stakes and lashes, and in some areas it isalso covered with a thick layer of mud. AtIer

metal trowel.5. The brick is removed by lifting the mold

and brick onto a wooden block and pressing themold downward. leaving the brick sitting on topof rhe block.

h. ‘The bricks are stacked with a small spacebetween them and allowed to dry for about twoweeks.

In different areas, batako are made indifferent sizes and shapes. Two common sizesare 10 by 20 by 40 cm, and 12 by 15 by 35 cm. Afew companies are now using mechanicalpresses to make strong pressed batako withholes for reinforcement with mortar or ironbars.

Batako are not as strong as fired bricks andcannot be used for structures requiring highstrength. However, they can be used to buildmuch more permanent houses than bamboo orwood, at just a fraction of the cost of tired bricksor concrete. The mortar and plaster used isoften mm and lime, mixed in the same pro-portions as the batako mixture.

three i;.onths or longer, the wood gives off arotten urine-like stench. The wood is then airdried until it can be sawn into posts andplanking. The process is identical for bamboo.If bamba, strips are needed, the bambooshould be split before submersion: this ac-celerates the process by two or three weeks.

Unfortunately, this process darkens thewood and subdues the grain pattern of certaindecorative species. It is therefore seldom usedwith wood intended for fancy trim or furniture.

The bases of posts, even if set uponfoundation stones well above the ground level,are the first points to begin rotting. Thesebottom ends can be soaked or painted with usedmotor oil, wzosote. tar, or other petroleum-based preservatives. With the possible excep-tion of ironwoori, nr wooden post should besunk into soil in tropical areas: it will quickly mtat the soil line.

CONSTRUCTION l-5

1 1 6 CONSTRUCTK3N

1. Foe blade is made of spring steel by localblacksmirhs. The spade-shaped blade is thick atthe top. rapering gradually to a sharp edge.Blades rmge in xidth km 6 to 15 cm. and areabout 15 Fo30cm Inng. including the stock. Therood. has a square cross secrion. and also tapersIn~w 3 by 3 cm at the end near the blade almostdowi :o a point. Because hhr srock is square andFapered. the blade can easily be removed.MF~F& ‘Xl degrees. and wartached. allowingrhe wudurrg to be used as an axe.

2. The handk is made from a short S~OUF

hardwood p&z. about TO cm long with a d;a-meler of abour 4 PO 6 cm. The blade end isrecrangular.

3.4srronghcadpiecefastens the blade to thehandle b:! forming a tapered cavity the same

shape as the blade stock. The headpiece ismade either of heavy sheer iron or raw buffaloskin nshich is soaked. shaped. stitched, thenallowed to shrink to a tight tit on the bladestock.

For chopping trees or cutting logs intoSeCtiOnS, the blade edge is sei parallel to thehandle and the wodu~g is used as an axe orhatchet. To square logs or shape beams, theblade is removed and replaced after rotating it90 degrees, so that the edge is perpendicular tothe handle. The woodsman stands over the logwith one foot on each side, and chops a layer offthe top of the log with a motion similar tohoeing. As each chop cuts off a large chip ofwood, the craftsman breaks it off by pulling thehandle towards himself and down, rather thanpushing away and forcing the end of the bladeupward. A skilled craftsman can make rectan-gular beams of very regular shape and texture.

CONSTRUCTION 117

Alang-Alang Grass Roof/ Atap Alang-Alang

Alu~~g-~l~~zg grass is a pernicious weed

which covers millions of hectares in Indonesia. It is especially prevalent in areas which have been used for slash and burn agriculture. So far. only the Balinese have figured out any constructive use for this tenacious grass: they use it to make attractive and long lasting roofs for their houses and rice barns.

Sheets of ahg-alang roofing are prepared by folding the blades of the dried grass over a strip of bamboo about 1% to 2 meters long. The grass is about 60 cm long; when about 15 cm of the stem end is folded over, it makes the sheets of grass roofing about 45 cm by 2 meters. The folded grass is tied onto the bamboo slat with string made from bamboo or other available material.

The roof construction uses bamboo rafters set about 15 to 30 cm apart. Starting from the bottom, the sheets are lashed onto the rafters at close intervals, forming layers. By spacing the tops of the sheets only about 6 to 7 cm apart, a

118 CONSTRUCTION

dense roof 10 to 20 cm thick is created. Thecorners sod peak are protected by arc-shapedroof tiles which prevent rain warer from enter-ing at these points.

If the building is located in a sunny spotwhere the roof can dr!- out between rains. this h’,*$,,p Ii/‘3 ,,““““’type of roof caa last up to 50 years. In shady -_ r‘~-Z I rh,, ,?qr~“’ ,!/~“

locations where the roofstays damp, it will last.G-@’

p-uss r/lurch rag/:

only about 10 to 20 years.

Reinforced Cement/Bambu Semen

For several decades. many people of WestSumatra and a few people in West Kalimantanhave used cement plaster over plaited bamboofor w-all construction. Besides being muchcheaper than masonry construction, this tech-nique has other advantages: it is somewhatflexible, making it stronger in West Sumatra’smany earthquakes, and it is lighter, reducingthe elunce that the house will sink intoKalimantan’s soft mud.

Water-treated bam’bw slats about 6 to 8mm thick and 2 to 3 cm wide arsz plaited, withthe vertical pieces spaced 10 to 20 cm apart andthe horizontal pieces almost touching. Thebamboo is plaited 50 that the smooth outsideand rough inside surfaces alternate to help thecement adhere well.

The connection between the plaitedbamboo a>ld the wooden uprights must bestrong. Usually a thin board is plaited into theends of the bamboo. and this board is nailedonto a post. T’his is somewhat of a problem. ascement does not adhere well to wood, andtherefore the edges of the plastered section

tend to crumble off.The p:aited bamboo sections are separated

by the posts and are not directly -xmected toeach other, in aneff~rt to localize damage in theevent of a quake or settling.

One to two cm of cement-sand plaster isspread on one side of the bamboo andsmoothed. The mixture is about 1 part cementto 10 parts sand: lime is not used. After the first

ese House DesigdRamoh Aceh

Traditional houses in Aceh, like those inmost of Indonesia‘s outer islands, are b;lilt onstilts. The houses have far fewer insects that~a!~. and the cool shady space under the houseis wed for visiting. handicrafts, food prep-aration. etc.

One of the major advantages of puttinghouses up on stilts is improved cross-vent-ilation. The Acehnese take this one step furtherby building their houses with slatteh floors.Thin strips of tough, springy nibung wood,about 1% by 5 cm. are used to make the floor.Nburzg is a local variety of paim tree, withfibrous and very stiong outer layers. The stripsare nailed or tiedtojoists set about 40 cm apart.A gap of about 1 cm is left between each strip.

The result is a smooth and somwhatspringy floor. Usually. plaited tikar mats arespread on top of it. Cool air comrs up throughthe floor to replace the heated aw escapingthrough the eaves, windows and roof. with theresult that the inside of traditional Acehnesehouses is the most comfortable place to be inthat hot area. Slotted floors are also very easy tokeep clean.

CONSTRUCTION 119

side has hardened, the other side is piar.ered.The finished walls are 3 to 4 cm thick.

In West Sumatra. the bottom .6 1 meterportion uf the wa8s is made either of bricks andmortar. or mow commonly. river rocks andconcrete. which are cast in wooden f(;rms andthen plastered. In Kalimantan, the entire wallis made from bamboo reinforced cement.

120 CONSTRUCTION

Bamboo ImplementsiPerkakas Bambu

Bamboo is one of thz most useful plantsknown to man. An attempt to iist all of the usesof bamboo in Indonesia’s villages would fillseveral volumes this size. Practically all aspectsof the lives of Indonesian villagers involve theuse of something made from bamboo.

The largest members of the grass family,there are dozens of \,arieties of bamboo growingthroughout the islands. some reaching heightsof over 10 meters and base diameters of 15 cmor more. From an early age. Indonesian villagechildren learn to cut. split and join bamboo.often making their OWZI toys. This is one of themost important skills they will learn.

There are hardly any buildings in thecouotr~ which ha\; :?I used bamboo in theirconstruction; even Jakarta’s modern sky-scrapers were built with bamboo scaffolding.And practically no household is without somebamboo tools in daily use. For instance, asimple bamboo folding clothesline is used tohang out the wash. It can be folded up forstorage between use.

A bamboo rack is a simple and attractiveway to store all of the kitchen implements in aplace that is dean and convenient. Any villagerwith a knife can produce such a rack in just a fewhours.

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SmaII Industries, Handicrafts and the Informal !3ectm/Industri Kecil, Kerajinan Tangan dan Sektor Informal

It has often been presumed that the econ-omies of Indonesia and orher developing coun-tries are divided into two mutually exclusivewars: the small “modem” sector composedof capital intensive industries. plantati6n oper-ations and business enterprises. and the trad-itionai agrarian sector, a rwa! society withtraditional farmers, artisans and craftsmenthat needs only small amounts of hard cash tobuy such items as soap, needles. matches. andan occasional bicycle or transistor radio.

Such an analysis ignores the existence of alively and vital intermediate sector. found inboth urban and rural areas. supplying servicesand manufactured products to people at alllevels of society and even serving the needs ofthe growing “modem” sector.

Statisticians still call 80% of Indonesia’speople “farmers.” In fact, these people callthemselves farmers only because they havesome connection to the land, either owning asmali plot or periodically working a plot forsomeone else. Actually, most heads of house-holds can claim three to five outside income-earning activities, which often bring in moreincome than their farms. And as growingnumbers of rural Indonesians farm ever smallerplots of land, more and more people seek theirlivelihoods in non-farm enterprises.

As this sector grows. awareness of itsexistence is also gmwing. The 1973 Handbookoflndones&m Statistics reported that only 1.4million people *were involved in the informalsector. In 1977 the Minister of Industry raisedthat figure LO 11 million. International LaborOrganization figures are as high as 17 million.In a labor force of about SO million people, thesenumbers demand greater attention.

The enterprisesfoundin Indonesia’s inter-mediate sector do not necessarily have thecharacteristics generally ascribed to the in-formal sector: lack of organization. smallcapital investment, low Izvei of skills, pre-dominance of family operation, freedom fromregulation or official ties. impermanent Ioca-tion. and no use of formal financial supportnetworks such as banks or credit union. In fact,these informal businesses may employ sea-

sonal labor up to 100 people. have fixed work-places and equipment, produce high qualityproducts, receive orders in the millions ofmpiah (thousands of dollars). and have connec-tions with a variety of “formal” enterprises(though frequently through unofficial chan-nels). In many cases these small enterprisespay their workers higher wages than those inthe “modem” manufacturing sector. Theability to respond and adapt assures the viabil-ity of these informal enterprises; they mustrespond to market conditions as they arcbeyond the reach of government sanctions orassistance.

The technologies employed by many ofthese enterprises embody the philosophy of theappropriate technology movement: they arcsmall scale, labor intensive, consume smallamounts of energy. are simple and inerpen-sive. and are designed, produced and maintain-ed using local skills and materials. Theseentrepreneurs borrow and adapt technologiesimported by the modern sector, improve ontraditional tools, andofteninvent ne\?i tools andprocesses suited to their specific needs. demon-strating through innumerable examples theinformal sector’s ability to perceive real needsand opportunities and react accordingly.

122 SMALL INDUSTRIES

One of the most evident types of informalsector productive rctivit!~. in Indonesia andnrarly all dewloping coun ties. is the w-use 01\!aSf@ products for 1hL! manufacture of con-sumer goods. Both the \vaste products from themodern industrial sector. and the broken dis-carded goods of the urban population go backinto production. or are recycled. For those whocannot afford to buy imported manufacturedgoods. local ingenuity provides alrernative pro-dusts made from materials which would othcr-wise be thrown awa!-.

The ma.jority of Indonesians are poor andmosr are not full\- integrated into the monetizedeconomy. In the village economy. the smallwpplx of capital places se\-ere limitations onboth production and consumption patterns. Yetchanges in living conditions. such as increasingurbanization and the availability of consumergoods. are creating new demands for bothconsumer and production goods. and low-capital business and employment opportu-nities.

Recycling indusrries tend to be small,diverse. and difficult to count, tax or control.This is not to say that fhey are not highlyorganized. But they hardly affect the GNP and.as a result, have been largely neglected by thegovernment. hlembersaftheadministration donot buy goods from these -industries, in factoften do no: seem aware of iheir existence, orthe existence of that majorit:, of the populationto whom they cater. Mayor Cokropranolo ofJakarta. during a visit to a sector of that cityteeming with small informal businesses, saidthat “the best thing that we (i.e. the govern-ment) can do for them is leave them alone.”indeed, the only major official attention paidthe recyclers is from the police, concernedabout those who steal their raw materials.

Waste material suitable for recycling isnaturally concentrated in urban areas whereboth the capital intensive industries and thewealthy consumers are located. Importedindustrial plants usually use production tech-niques which create wastage which is not profit-ably usable, for technical reasons, within thoseindustries. Broken equipment and discardedmachine components also become raw mater-

ials for the recycling industries. The third andgreatest source of raw materials is the trash ofwalth? consumers. The recyclit;g industrieswhich product implements for the poor areparad~~sialiy depcndcnt opw the consumptionof the rich.

Scavenging supports tens of thousands ofpeople in Indonesia’s major urban centers, whosearch every street. collecting everything fromnewspapers to automobile batteries to cigarettebutts. The manager of a huge imported trashprocessing and composting plant in Surabayacomplains that the trash is already picked sociean by the time it is delivered to his plant thatmost of his expensive machinery is rendereduseless.

Much of the scavenged material is sold tomiddlemen who channel it either to recyclingcraftsmen (who make it into cheap implements)or back to the big factories where paper, plasticand scrap iron can be reprocessed andincluded in the manufacture of new gooas. Anoutsider’s first impression of Indonesian re-cyling is likely to be that of destitute peoplecoming to the cities desperately trying to ekeout a living by picking through garbage. Acloser examination reveals an efficient andorganized business that has close ties with themodern industrial sector. The scavengingbusiness is at the same time informal andsufficiently complex to defy easy comprehen-sion by outsiders.

That portion of the scrap which finds itsway to craftsmen for conversion into imple-ments arJ consumer goods for the poor, oftenends up as surprisingly elegant products.Indonesia, like other Asian countries, has avery long craft tradition. Whether working withebony or silver or discarded tin cans, theIndonesian craftsman has an understanding cfhis material which shows in the fmishedproduct.

Iron is the material recycled in the greatestamounts. Blacksmiths used to prefer rail fromthe railroads, but now as more commercetravels by highway, broken springs fromtrucks, bcses and automobiles supply thisindustry with its raw material. Sheet iron,especially from oil and aspha!t drums, is alwaysin great demand. Used tires. a major disposalproblem in industrialized nations, command ahigh price in Indonesia. Paper is col!ected and

.::

re-used. sold either to paper facTaries to makenewsPrint. or to vendors to wrap their wares.Broken plastic warts are collected and soldback to the casting fwiories to mix in with newra\v material for tbr production of new buckets.scoops and brwhcs which w4l soon return to

Used tires present a fotmidable disposalproblem in Wes;srn nations. Not so in Indo-nesia. TotaTTy bald tires stih command a highprice here. They are used to make a variety ofconsumer items. Recycling tires is an industrywhich rmplo~s thousands in Indonesia. and thepwducm arc found in nearly every home of thep~xwr sectors of so&et!. Rubber tire goods are

SMALL iNCUSTRIES 123

the factory again. Perhaps the most fascinatingof all the scavengers and rccyclers are thewandering /ooX- merchants. They collect andsell cvcrything from cscd shoes to bottles.broken toys. and alarm clock parts: and theysupport their fruuilics doing it.

less expensive than their plastic counterparts,and usually much sturdier.

Common items produced from used tiresinclude sandals, soles for shoe repair, buckets,wash basins. Rower pots, doormats, rope forlifting buckets from wells, harnesses and strapsfor draft horses, shoes for the oxen that pullcarts on paved roads. and springy straps forsupporting chair cushions.

The tires are cut into different sections fordifferent purposes. The wire bead is cut off andburned and the wire is sold for scrap. Thesidewalls are used for making buckets, tubs,rope and straps. and the tread is used forsandals. soles. and “tires” for wooden cartwheels. Nothing is wasted.

The medium sized blunt-shaped knivesused for cutting the rubber must be kept verysharp. The craftsmen keep a tine-grained

sharpening stone next to them, taking a fewstrokes to hone the edge every minute or two asthey work. Some craftsmen lubricate the cutwith water; most do not.

The parts of the products are fastened withrivets or nails pounded through and bent sothey cannot pull out. Buckets and tubs aresealed, using either asphalt or paint as a glue.

The tool for cutting ropes and straps is ashort bench with a knife blade and an iron rodimplanted near the upper end, about one cmapart. The lower end is weighted or fastened tothe floor. To adjust the size of the gap betweenthe blade and the rod and therefore determinethe width of the cut, a wooden wedge is pressedbetween the blade and the rod, near the top ofthe blade. The blade is pounded into thewooden block to hold it in place (point down).The O-shaped tire sidewall is cut into one long

124 SMALL INDUSTAtfS

cord. starting from the outside and spirallinginward. This cord can be cut into thin strips bymoving the blade and rod closer together andrunning it through again. Straps only a fewmillimeters thick can be cut with this tool. Theknife IS not removed for sharpening; a smallthin stone is used to stroke the edge after eachlength of cord is pulled through.

Lighthdb Wick Iamp/Lampu Tempel

Discardedlight bulbs, bottlecaps, and bitsof tin can are used on parts of Java and Bali toproduce kerosene-burning wick lamps. Thesocket end and filament are carefully brokenout of the light bulb, leaving a hole to put in thefuel andinsertthewick. Loosecotton cordof thetype used as wick material in industrially madekerosene stoves is passed through a solderedtube which passes through a bottle cap. Unfor-tunately. this arrangement allows the wick to beadjusted only by pulling up the cap and pullingor pushing the wick to the proper height.Windscreens for the lamps can be made either

from light bulbs with both ends cut out, or,more commonly, from small plastic creamdetergent tubs. Twoor three small air inlets cutat the base of the windscreen help cut down onthe smoke and soot from the kerosene flame.Operating the lampwith the wick pulled out toofar creates a pulsating flame which manyvendors use to call attention to their wares innight markets.

SMALL INDUSTRIES 175

Fiuurescent Tube Wicli LampiLampu “Neon”

Deiicate and attractive wick lamps can bemade from the thin glass of used fluorescentlight rubes. When the ends are removed andthe white powder washed oat. the glass is quitethin and clear. Shaping the glass by softening itwith heat and then blowing and twisting it intolamp parts requires a high degree of skill anddelicacy.

The la3p consists of four parts: a cottonwick of the type used for kerosene stoves, acombination fuel rank and base, a wick holderand a chimney glass. The base is either a flat-bortomed glass sphere or double sphere with anarrow neck on top. opening to a larger cylindri-cal mouth with a decorative fluted edge. The /! \wick holder is a sn~all diamond-shaped piece ofthe same thin glass stock with small holes ineach end which tightly bold the wick. It sits inthe neckofthe base, a short section of wick pro-truding out of the top for the flame, and the re-mainder of the wick dropping out the bottominto the fuel tank. The vase-shaped chimneyglass sits loosely inside the mouth of the base,so that air for combustion can be drawn in. Thetop edge also features decorative fluting.

The shapes are fornxed by heating theglass over a small flame. then twisting the glassto narrow and close off sections, or blowing onthe end to cause the softened section to bulgeout. Also, small woodenor bamboo implementsare used to make indentations and fluted edges.The hot glass is cot either with a hot knife or asharp piece of bamboo. Extreme delicacy isrequired for this work, but the material is cheapand abundant and the rewards sufficient; theselamps sell for as much or more than com-mercially produced wick lamps.

126 SMALL INDUSTRIES 1

PUN .&I; besi means blacksmith. one of themost important types of craftsman in !ndo-nesia. past and present. Although in recentyears factovmade competitors to blacksmiths’products have appeared on the market, thetraditional goods continue to sell well becausepeople trust them and know that the productcan be repaired by rbe ~IGXI craftsmen whomade them.

Smithing materials, techniques and finalproducts vary little throughout Indonesia,aithougb almosi evev a r e a h a s a speciaifavorite shape of knife or machete, and boaststhat their iron products are superior. The art isperhaps most ancient in Suiawesi: in fact, boththe current name and the old Dutch nameCelebes are mispronunciations of the Bugisterm for ironworkiog.

These days, automobile and truck springsare the most cummo~ raw material, thoughrailroad rails are also popular and a few itemssuch as scissors require low carbon softer steel.The tools and techniques used are as old as theart itself. The iron and steel is heated incharcoal tires with forced air from one of severaltypes of pump. The pieces are cut and shapedon crude iron anvils, usually a short section ofrailroad rail fastened to a block of wood, usinghammers and cutters with designs unchangedfor centuries. If the usage of the finishedproduct requires, the edges can be hardened,

disepuh by heating them to red heat and thenquenching them in water or oil. Hardnessranges from maleable to springy and brittle.

Generally, the quality of blacksmiths’products in Indonesia is good. Even though thiscraft now faces stiff competition from themodern manufacturing sector, it is destined tocontinue thriving in fndonesia for a long time.

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Fan-Type Forge ps/Ububan Putar

Blacksmiths and other metal workers “se acharcoal fire with forced air to heat .; ir metal.Throughout Indonesia. many different types ofair pomps are wed for this purpose. A type thathas recently gained popularity in Java and Baliuses a band cranked rotary fan. This pump iscalled ububanputar. There are several designs.ail similar in fo:m aed function. They have 5components:

1. The drive wheel and crank assembly ismade from a bicycle wheel set on a stationaryaxle. 4 wooden or metaf pin attached to thespokes serves as the crank.

2. The power is transferred from the crankwheri to the fan assembly by a rubber belt cutfrom an old automobile tire. stitched or lashedinto a loop of the appropriate length.

3. The fan chamber is a cylindrical or squaresheet iron orwoodenbox. Airenters a hole at ornear the center of one side oftbe chamber, andblow-n air passes out a passage (usually a sheetmetal cylinder) connected to the outside of thechamber.

4. The fan bas4.6.8 or 16 sheet metal bladesradiating from the axie. These blades are about8 to 10 cm wide and 10 to 20 cm long. The axlefits into holes in the center of both sides of thefan chamber. One end of the ax’e extends outseveral centimeters to connect with the belt.Often it has f?anges to bold the belt in place, and

a piece is added to increase the axle diameterand increase the belt traction.

5. The outlet directs the pumped air into thebase of the tirebox. tile shape of which isdetermined by the type of work done. Cruciblesfor melting metal for casting require deepcylindrical tire pits, while blacksmiths require abroad open space around the fire to lay theobjects to be heated across or into the center ofthe tire.

128 SMALL INDUSTRlES

Blacksmiths usually place their ububanandfireboxadjacent toasmallpit with an anvil.In this manner the operator can turn the crankwhile sitting with his feet in the pit, then takeout the-red hot pieceandbofd itover the anvil topound uitbcut changing position. Blacksmithsusually work in pairs. one cranking the ububanand holding the piece while his partner pounds,or visa versa. In casting workshops. the ububanis located a few meters away from the work-space (packed earth or a brick floor) where thecasting is done once the metal is molten.Finishing work is done away from the heat andsparks of the tirebox.

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Double-Acting Piston Forge Pump/Puup

Puup Is the Acehnese name for a double-action piston pump, probably of Chiiese origin,used by many of the blacksmiths in thatprovince. Thepuup is easy to use and efficient,pumping large volumes of air on both the pulland push strokes of the piston. The puupconsists of 5 parts:

1. The piston is a square section of board,measuring about 25 by 25 by 3 cm. Severallayers of cement sack paper are fastened to thefour edges of both sides of the board, clamped

in place with strips of iron and bolts. The paperis folded 90 degrees so that it stands per-pendicular to the plane of the piston board. Thepurpose of this paper is to act as piston rings,allowing no air past the edges of the piston, A2% meter plunger rod bolts to the center of thepiston, passes through a hole in the center ofthe board covering the end of the pump body,and has a handle made of buffalo horn bolted tothe other end.

130 SMALL INDUSTRIES

2. The pump body. or “cylinder”. is a longrectangular wooden box built of stout hoards.This box is about 2 meters long. with insidedimensions that are s!ightly larger than thepiston, allowing it to slide freely along thelength of the box. The square boards boltedonto the ends of the box each have a 3 cm airintake hole. These holes are covered on the

inside by a tin flap hanging on a simple wirehinge. which acts as a one-way valve, openingto allow air in and closing when the pistondirection changes and air is forced back.Pumped air leaves the pump body through two3 cm holes located near the bottom edge of oneof the boards. one at each end.

air rrharrsr

3. An air channel is chiselled into a long pieceof wood, giving it a cross-section lie the letter“c”. Thispiece of wood is nailed onto the sideof the box, each end of the channel covering one

of the exhaust air holes mentioned above. Cutinto the midpoint of this piece of wood is thetriangular housing of a two-way valve.

Air channel. to be muched tothe outside oJ’the cylinder box.

4. The two-way valve consists of a tin flap on awire hinge which swings back and forth acrossthe triangular channel cut in the center of theair channel housing. Tite wire hinge fits innotches cut into the air channel housing. Airrushing through the channel from one end ofthe pump forces the valve flap across thechamber. closing the channel leading totbe halfof the pump drawing in air.

5. A 3 cm diameter iron pipe fits snugly into ahole in a wooden block which covers the hvo-way valve opening. This pipe transports the air

SMALL INDUSTRIES 131

from the valve to the tire. A clay or sheet ironshield protects the wooden pump from heat andsparks from the fire.

How the puup works:

At the start of the first stroke the pistonplunger (located on the left side in the drawingson the next page) is all the way in, and thepiston is at the right end of the pump chamber.As the piston is drawn to the left by pulling onthe plunger rod handle, air is sucked into thepump chamber through the one-way valve onthe right end. At this time the one-way valve onthe left end of the housing is held closed by thepressure of the air being pushed by the piston.The air on the left side of the piston leaves thepump chamber through the hole leading intothe left end of the air channel, and rushes

through that channel into the two-way valvehousing. The flap of the two way valve is forcedover to the right side of the valve chamber,closing the end of the air channel connected tothe right side of the pump, and directing thepumped air tkrough the iron pipe into the tire.

When the piston has been drawn all theway to the left end of the pump chamber. thestroke is reversed. Pushing the piston plungerto the left causes air to be drawn into the pumpchamber through the one-way valve on the leftend of the pump body. The one-way valve at theright end of the pump closes. Pumped air

132 SMALL INDUSTRIES

‘, ,,:

:;

entering rhe air channel from the right end cfthe pump forces the tlap of the hvo-way valve toswing across the valve chamber, closing thechannel from the left end of the pump anddirecting the pumped air through the iron pipeinto the fire.

Thepuup works we& a slow rhythmic backand forth motion of the piston, requiring only

~,, light pulling and pushing, produces a strongdraft of air. The smith can work the puuphimself, while most other types of forge pumpsrequire two men - one to pump, and one tohandle the iron.

SMALL INDUSTRIES 133

Other Air Pumps/Ububan dan Puup Lain

While most Arehnese and other Sumatra”blacksmiths use the box bellows typepuup justdescribed. a few prefer to use more traditionalgoat skin bellows, which they also call puup.This type of puup consists of a pair of goatskinbags, each made from a whole goatskin. Thefront leg holes are sewn shut and sealed withpitch, and the neck hole is lashed onto a shortw&en cylinder, with a section of iron piperunning through it. The back end of the skin iscut off just in front of the legs. forming a largeopening. Two handles are cut in the skin, andtwo bamboo strips are tied on, so that theopening can be pinched shut.

This type of puup requires two people-one to pump and the other to tend the iron in thefire. Pumping requires a certain degree ofmanual dexterity. a!temately opening one bagand pulling it back so that it fdls with air, whilepinching the other shut and pushing it flat,forcing out the air.

134 SM~ALL INDUSTRIES

The traditional two-tube Javanese uSi:5ovis being replaced by box bellows and rotary fantype uhu~xur. but some blacksmiths stil! prrixthis model. The twin cylinders are made eit!te~from hollowed out palm tree trunks o:- fromsheet metal. Each tube has an outlet pipe at thebase, which join in a “Y” so that there is asingle outlet into the fire. The pistons are longwooden rods with round wooden disks at thebottom which fit inside the tcbes. Chickenfeathers are fastened around the edge of eachdisk in an overlapping pattern. The pumper sitson a high bench and alternately lifts and pushesdown the plungers. This ububan also requirestwo people.

T i e r ’ s Forgei’Ububan Patri

A device similar to the blacksmith’s rotaryfan. but much smaller. is used by tinkers(rukw~g putn‘) who wander through neighbor-hoods rattling their distinctive metal clacker toannowce their presence to anybody who mayneed soldering done. The operation of thisububorz is identical to the larger ones, but a fewof its components differ considerably.

Instead of flat radial blades, the fan hasZ-shaped petal blades. A paint can lid, piercedthrough the center, has four radial cuts reach-ing almost to its center. Tbe edges at each cutare folded about 45 degrees, one to the left andone to the right. &iw each blade a Z-likeprofile. Whenthe f& t&s, the leading edge ofeach blade pulls air into the fan chamber andthen forces it through the connecting tube intothecharcoal brazier. Airentersthefanchamberthrough a hole in one side. A small pulley with acrank is used to urn :he fan, by means of a beltmade from inner&: rubber.

The bottom of the brazier, where the airenters, is hoilow. A perforated base holds thecharcoal up in the cone-shaped top section. It isbig enough to hold a handful of charcoal,enough to heat the copper headed irons used forsoldering. The irons are also produced by localcraftsmen.

SMALL INDUSTRIES 135

136 SMALL lNQUSTRlES

Silver SoldevingiF’atri Perak

Indonesian sill-ers&ths. especially thoseof Central Java. sali. West Sumatra andSoutheast Sulawesi. achieve very intricateresults using rather primitive technology. ‘TheTechnique for soldering, one of the mostdelicate operations in jewelry production,presents a striking example. For solderingsiiwr. the craftsman needs 3 tools:

1. A kerosene lamp made of a can with aspout similarto those on watering cans, stuffedwith a piece of rag to act as a wick, provides theflame for soldering.

2. A thin meta: tube. shaped lie the letter Lis used to blow the flame. The mouth end isalmost f cm in diameter. tapering down to a 2 or3 mm nozzle at the bc,tom.

3. A piece of pumice or other porous volcanicrock. ground flat on one side, is used to hold thepiece being soldered.

With these simple tools, talented silver-smiths can solder tiny delicate filagree piecesw<thout melting them into blobs of metal. Theprocess is very simple.

1. The shaped and assembled piece is placedcarefully on the stone.

2. The piece is sprinkled with a fine layer ofsilver Eiingscollected from the bench where thecraftsman files and scrapes the unfinishedpieces.

3. The stone is betd in the left hand about 10cm from the base of the flame.

4. With the tube, the crafsman blwvs theflame onto the piece. As the silver b~egins toturn a dull red color. the dust melts and bindsthe pieces together. The craftsman carefullymoves the stone and piece under the flame untilall sections are bound, moving each portion outof the flame as quickly as the dust melts; if hedelays the piece will begin to disintegrate.

After soldering, the metal is black, andmust be cleaned with a mild acid solution. Thepiece is then ready for finishing. the applicationof clasps. stones. and so forth.

SMALL INDUSTRIES ‘37

Spinning Wheel/Pemintal

I:ern;tm/. or spinning wheels. have im-proved very much in Indonesia during the lasthalf cmtury. Although the design and opera-tion are unchanged from the old models nowfound in museums and antique shops, the useof bicycle parts in their construction makes thenewer pemiiiiai easier to produce. longerlasting. steadier and easier tu use. Pemintalhave 3 parts:

I. The crank wheel is made from a bicyclerim. The spokes and hub are usually replacedby a woaden cross, one of which is given a crankhandle.

2. A string looped around the crank wheelturns the axle of a bicycle front wheel hub. Thehub is held stationary in a block of wood that ispart of the frame. A wire hood or woodenbobhin is attached to one end of the axle.

3. A wooden frame holds the two movingparts.

Theillustration bclowisof apem~utul csedto wind silver wire for tilagree jewelry produc-tion. A long single strand of silve: wire isdoubled. The looped end fits across the hook onthe pernintuf axle and the opposite ends areattached to a heavy wooden block set across theroom. The wire is thel. spun to the desiredtightness. During this process, the block mustbe moved toward the operator a few times, toprevent the wound wire from becoming tootaut.

For spinning yarn, a long, thin, cone-shaped bobbin is attached to the axle on theside pointing toward rhe operator. The fiber iswrapped around this bobbin to be pill!ed off io asingle strand as the wheel is spun.

138 SMALL INDUSTRIES

Grinding and sharpening knives. axes andother implements is the biacksmith’s mosttiring and time-consuming job. Acehneseblacksmiths use human-powered circulargrindstones to complete this task quickly andeasily. The Acehnrse rotas grinder consis:s offour parts:

1, A carborundum grinding whee l . P re -viously. discs of iocai basair were used.

2. A grinder sbaft. made of iathed hardwood.The shaft ts abolrt 35cm lone with a diameter of4 10 5 cm The si~ne disc G cemented to thisshaft war one of ii!e rrds, wing I glue madefrom dissolvtd termire &;vellingr. &me-shapediron poin:~ art fitted ir:to both ends oi‘ the shaftID serve a:: bearings.

3. A 2 s:e+w cord with .wwden pegs f o rhandles tied a~ borh ends, wi+ch is wrappedthree or four ‘CITES around the ,+der shaft.

1. A stand which also serves as the operator’s

bench. The weight of the operator keeps inplace the two vertical boards which hold theends of the grinder shaft while it is turned bytk:c: operator’s assistant.

The grinder is assembled in a few secondsand the operator sits on the bench, leaning overthe ,minding wheel. His as&ant sits in front ofhim, facing towards him. The assistant pullsone end of the rope until the opposite end isnear the spinning shaft. Then he pulls back theether end, causing the shaft and stone to turn inthe opposite direction. The operator holds theblade firmly against the spinning stone, sharp-ening it in much less time than is required usinga flat whetstone.

SMALL INDUSTRIES 139

Grinding Wheel/Penggosok Batu Cincin

West Sumatra is the source of many color-ful semi-precious stones. Large rings bearingthese stones are very popular in Indonesia. Thestones are shaped and polished with grind-stones, sandpaper and bamboo. A commontype of penggosok grinder/sander is hand-cranked. using bicycle components to increasethe speed of rotation to a usable level. A bicyclepedal and chainwheel assembly is handcranked, driving a chain which sets a bicyclerear wheel spinning at a higher speed. Thiswheel drives a belt which turns a small woodenpulley bolted onto a bicycle axle. The hub thatsurrounds the axle i s c lamped to tl:!-workbench.

A commercially-made carborundum stoneis bolted to one d of the axle, and a smallwooden wheel to the other. The carborundumstone is used for roughing out the shape of thestone. Fine emery cloth is fastened to thewwden wheel with a rubber band. This is usedto smooth the stone after the proper shape hasbeen attained. The stone is then hand sandedand finally polished by rubbing it parallel to thegrain of a se&n of bamboo from which thewter skin has been removed. Bamboo has ahigh silica content, which makes it a fineabrasive.

Thefinishedstonesaresct inlarge brassorsilver rings, which are sold throughoutIndonesia.

140 SMALL INDUSTRIES

Pump DriWBor

The pump drill is one of the most ancientmechanical tools known to man. For certainapplications. it is still preferred b!l some crafts-men. It performs quickly and accuratelywithout an inordinate amount of care or effortby its user.

The pump drill con+sts of four or fivecomponents:

1. A round drill shaft about 30 or 40 cm longwith a diameter of 3 or 4 cm.

2. A flywheel. usually a section of heavyhardwood connected to the base of the drillshaft like a propeller. or a stone-filed coconutshell.

3. A drilling bit, usually a metal spike withthe end flattened to a point and two sharpedges. forced into the lower end of the drillshaft.

4. A pumping handle. a straight piece ofwood about 30 cm long. with a 60 to SO cm pieceof rope tied to both ends. This rope fits into anotch at the top of the drill shaft, or passesthrough a hole near the top.

5. Sorxtimes a wooden palm piece, notchedto serve as a bearing, is held over the top of thedrill shaft with one hand to guide the drill whileit is pumped with the other hand.

With the pump drill, alternating rotarymotZ?n of the &ill is produced by up and downmotion: of the pumping handie. The cord iswrapped around the shaft. A downward motionof the hanc”ie causes the shaft and bit to spin as;hc cord enwinds. Spin&g m o m e n t u m ,assisted by the weight of the @wheel, thenwinds the cord ix !he opposite dire&ion aroundthe shaft. The handle is pushed down again,rdusing the drill to spin in the opposite direc-tion. A ragid rhythmic pumping motion keepsthe drill spirining quickiy back and forth.

Wood Laihe/Bubutan Kayu

Two different treadle-driven wood turninglathes, bubutan kayu, were designed and pro-duced by a Central Javanese villager whosesmall cottage indushy produces toys which aresold locally. Both lathes have very simple andfunctional designs. The smaller lathe is longenough to accomodate pieces up to about 80 cmin length, but has a very light flywheel and isusually used only for small toy parts. The largerlathe takes pieces up to about 150 cm, and itsflywheel is heavy enough to accomodate suchwork.

Both lathes feature a reciprocating pedallinked to an offset cam on the flywheel axle, sothat one up and down stroke of the pedal

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corresponds to one revolution of the flywheel.Belts and pulleys increase the speed at whichthe stock turns. A pedalling rate of about 100strokes per minute produces a good workingspeed.

The flywheel of the smaller lathe is madefrom a bicycle wheel rim. The spokes arereplaced with a wooden cross, bolted at thecenter to the iron rod axle. 4 teak blocks arefastened to the spokes togive the flywheel extraweight. The axle is mounted in wooden beamsusing ball bearings which are press-fitted intoholes in the wood.

A bicycle crank arm, with the pedal endsawn off, is bent in the middle so that it forms a90 degree angle. This forms the reciprocatingcam. with a 10 cm stroke, and clamps onto theend of the axle.

The linkage between the cam and the pedalis a cast iron part with ball bearings in bothends, purchased from a junk dealer. It probablycomes from a treadle-driven sewing machine.

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The treadle and flywheel assembly of thelarger lathe is quite different than that of thesmaller model. The flywheel is made from awooden front \vheel from an andong carriage,with its iron rim removed and a groove cut in theedge toaccomodate the drive belt. The wheel isattached to a heaw iron axle which is mountedin the legs of the lathe with ball bearings. Thisaxle has a U-shaped bend which acts as thereciprocating cam. The bend isabout 8 cm deepby 10 cm wide. The iron linkage between theaxle and the treadle does not use ball bearings

on this lathe. The cast rod with loops at bothends was purchased from a junk dealer. Thebottom end of this rod connects to a short barbetween wooden members of the treadle. Thetreadie is a rectangular wooden frame. iinfor-tunately, the treadle is not wide enough toreach while working on the tailstock end of longpieces. This limits the length of pieces whichcan be turned on this lathe to about 1 meter,unless two people operate the lathe, onepumping the treadle while the other works thewood.

The head%ocks of both lathes are verysimilar. Power is transferred to the headstockby a belt made from tire rubber. There is awooden pulley fastened to the headstock shaft.The puIley sirs between two wooden uprightswith ball bearings for the shaft. The shaft isthreaded so that nuts can be used to keep it inplace. The bit is made from a short piece of steelrod with a larger diameter than the shaft. It iswelded onto a nut and mounted on the end ofthe shaft. Three teeth (for gripping the wood)are cut into the end of the bit with a hacksaw,then tempered by heating until red and quench-ing wixh water.

Grinding wSheels for sharpening tools,homemade sanding discs (made by gluingsandpaper onto woo&n discs or small round orcone-shaped plugs) and other attachments arebolted onto the shaft.

The tailstock and adjustable tool-rest ofeach iathe are very similar, differing only in themanner in which they are attached to the lathe.Both lathes have twin beams with a spacebetween them. The tailstock and the tool-restare mounted in this space and can be slid intothe proper position and secured there. Thesmaller lathe uses bolts to hold these parts inplace. The older. large lathe uses wedgesdriven through the bottom of the thin section ofthe wooden tailstock and tool rest mountsbetwxn the twin beams.

The tailstock has a fixed shaft with a sharppint rhat pierces the end cf the wood beingturned. Once the railstock is correctly posi-

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tioned, the shaft is turned until it pierces theend of the wood to be worked.

The adjustable tool-rest is fabricated fromwelded metal and can be adjusted both vertical-ly and horizontally. Vertical adjustment in-volves loosening a bolt on the vertical tubewhich holds the tool-rest: horizontal adjust-ment requires loosening the mounting boltsand sliding the whole assembly.

Both of these lathes work quite well. Theoperator can either stand in front of them or siton a tall stool. the latter making it slightly easierto pump the treadle at a rapid rate. The lathesarr about 90 cm high, a comfortable workingheight for Indonesians. The only maintenancerequired is occasional tightening or replace-ment of the belt, and the addition of a drop of oilon the ball bearings. The two lathes shown herehave already been in use for several years.

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Potter’s WmWP~taran Gerabah

Wheel-turned pottery has several advan-tages over pots formed with the pinch or coilmethods. It is stronger. breaks less duringdq-ing and firing. is more attractive, can bemade thinner, and can be produced many timesas fast.

A simple porters’ wheel, or putarmgeraboh is used in many pottery villages inSunda and Java. It consists of 3 parts:

1. A large stone wheel, chiselled from basaltor sandstone. The wheel has a diameter of25to40cmandisabout5or6cmthick. Atlangeiscut on the bottom. with a hole 2.5 cm in depthand 8 cm in diameter in the center, correspond-ing to the dimensions of the bearing.

2. Tbewheelmmsonasteel ball bearing thattits into the flange under the wheel. A piece ofcloth covers the bearing to assure a snug tit.The bearing has an inside diameter of about 4cm and an outside diameter of about 8 cm.

3. The wheel and bearing assembly is placedvertically upon a w&en stake. with the topcarved to fit tightly into the bearing hole. Thisstake is either driven into the ground, or fitsinto a heavy stone block.

I

I

I

After the wheel is assembled, a ball of clay.s slapped onto its center and the wheel is givenx few strong counter-clockwise turns with the.eft hand. The clay mound is patted untilsymmetrical, then is wetted to be formed by30th hands as the wheel spins. Every fewseconds the wheel must be given anotherstrong turn with the left hand to keep itspinning fast enough.

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Melded Clay Forms/Pengecoran Tanah Liat

A simple molding technique is used tomanufacture certain ceramic forms. usuallydecorative animal sculptures for sale as curiosand souvenirs.

Convex sections, halves or quarters of thefinished form. are made individually. The moldis dusted with fine ash so that the clay does notstick, then hii~ks of soft clay are pressed intothe mould and smoothed until even, about 1 to!% cm thick. depending on the size of thefinished piece. The mold is then set aside forthe piece to harden while another piece is madein a new mold.

After the pieces are removed from themold. they are set aside until they become stiffenough for assembly. Then the edges aretrimmed and roughed, a watery clay slip isapplied and they are pressed together. Oncethe joints have hardened somewhat, they aresmoothed and decorative trim is applied to theoutside of the piece. On well designed castingsthe trim can be applied over the joints betweenthe molded parts, thereby increasing theirstrength.

After drying, the pieces are fued at lowtemperatures, either in open fires or simpleupdraft kilns. They are sold either glazed,ungiazed or painted. Lead oxide is the most

common glaze, producing a shiny brown finish.In this use it is not harmful as the sculptures ar::not used to hold food or drink. However, theartisans should use greater care in preparingand handling the lead glaze.

TiiPatc iVulkanisasi

As motorized transport becomes morepopular in Indonesia. punctured tires becomemore common. Traveflers in isolated areas arewell advised to carry standard tire patch kitsconsisting of solvent cement and specialpatches. But along the country’s well travelledroads there are many small tire patchingbusinesses. They make very strong patches,using beat PC join the patch onto the inner tubein a process called sulkmisasi. A tire patchingbusiness requires the following tools:

I. A press for applying beat and pressure tothe section of inner tube receiving the patch.The press has a large bolt passing through arhreadcd hde or nut in the iron frame above aplatform. The top is given a handle for easyturning. Heat is provided by a small keroseneflame. Many presses use a small wick stovebelow the press platform, but a better typebeats the patch from above, with the fire in areceptacle swh as a bicycle bell or automobilepiston held in place by the press bolt. Thismethod is superior because it applies heat onlyto the patched area, saving fuel and avoidingdamaging other parts of the tube.

2. Cement for applying the patches can bepurchased from auto parts stores, but many tire

patchers prefer to make their own by mixingrubber filings with gasoline to form a viscouspaste.

3. A tile is needed to rough up the tubearound the hole so that the natch adheres well.Bastard fi!cs work well; many tire patchersmake their own by perforating a piece of tinwith small nail holes.

4. A large tub of water is used to search forleaks in the tube.

5. Wrenches and tire irons are necessary toremove the wheel and tire. Pliers are used toremove nails from the tire. There is a specialtool for removing the valves.

6. A pump, either a motorized compressor ora hand pump, is used to pump up the tires.

The process for patching tires is as follows:1. The tube is removed from inside the tire.

One bead of the tire is pried until it is outsidethe rim, and the tube can be pulled out. Onmotorcycles, this is often done without evenremoving the wheel.

2. The worker feels around the inside of thetire for nails or other sharp objects whichpunctured the tube and removes them withpliers.

3. He inflates the tube and submerges it inwater to find the leak or leaks.

4. With a file, he roughs up an area aroundthe hole. It should be at least 2 cm wide all the

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way around the hole. Long slashes are sewnshot with strong cotton thread.

5. From a disca:ded inner tube. he cuts apatch large enough to cover the filed area.

6. He paints a thin layer of cement on the areato be covered with the patch.

7. He setsarectangular section of tire rubberon the press platform to protect the tube andlays the tube on it so that the hole is directlyunder the end of the bolt. He then presses thepatch onto the cemented se&on and covers thiswith a layer of plastic or paper to prevent thepatch from sticking to the hot press; cigarettewrapper plastic works well for this.

8. Several different sizes of pistons or bellsare stocked for different sized patches. Theworker selects one that is the same size or alittle larger than the patch and places it over thepatch. He then tightens the bolt until it is firmlyheld in piace.

9. He pours a sma!! amount of kerosene intothe piston. With experience he knows howmuch is necessary to fuel a fire long enough tomake the patch adhere without melting it. Witha scrap of paper or wood shaving as a wick, helights the kerosene and allows it to bum untilit is consumed.

10. Heletsthepresscool before removing thetube. The patch should appear as a smoothlump on the tube. If the edges of the patch arestill visible, it has not been heated long enough.

11. He inflates the tube and checks it again inthe water to be sure it does not leak. If there areno more leaks, be puts the tttbe back in the tireand inflates it.

Whereas patches from a tire patch kit willoften come loose, especially if the tube wasdirty or damp when they were applied. a welldone vulkanisnsi patch bids completely withthe @lbe. leaving the patched area as strong asthe rest of the tube.

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Acetylene Gas Gener;$m/Pembangkit Gas Ka&it

Acetylene gas welding is now a verycommon craft in Indonesia. Thousands ofcraftsmen ply this trade, : reaching smallvillages and remote provinc&. Except in themajor cities, bottled acetyler!e is unavailable.Welders make their own in locally producedcarbide generators. These gas generators arevery simple to construct and operate. Theyconsist of:

1. An open-top drum, often a used oil orasphalt drum. Three legs are welded onto thebase of the drum to keep it off the ground andprevent rust.

2. .4 cylindrical generating chamber made of4 or S-inch iron pipe is welded into the drumnear the base. The inside end of this chamber isclosed with a welded cover. The outside end hasa hinged door which is sealed with inner tuberubber gaskets and a latch made of a large boltwith a T-shaped handle for tightening. A ‘/zinch outlet pipe rnns from the top of thischamber up the center of the drum, endinglevel with the top of the drum. A l/z inch inletpipe draws water from the drum in through thetop of the chamber. A gate valve is used tocotttrd the water flow.

3. A semi-cylindrical plate iron drawer thathoids the carbide fits into the chamber.

4. A cyliidrical gas tank with a smaller dia-meter than the drum fits inside the top of thedrum. This tank is made of welded iron plate. Itis open on the bottom. A section of 2 inch pipeprotrudes from the center of the top of the gastar& when the tank is in place this pipe fits overthe outlet pipe from the gas generationchamber. It is closed at the top with a weldedcover. 2 pieces of % inch pipe extend horizon-tally from the top of this pipe, one serving as abrace to hold the cover in place, the seconddoubling as a brace and an outlet pipe. Theoutlet pipe goes out and then downward to passthrough the top of another chamber, endingjust a few centimeters above the base of thischamber. This is the flame trap, made of a

section of 2% or 3 inch pipe with welded ironplate ends. Another pipe with a funnel at the‘top also passes through the top of this chamberand ends at the bottom, parallel to the gas tank

........................ ,.1”‘a.. ... . ................ ,,d’............ ........... ....... .._ _ .........

Carbide drawerand chonrber.

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6

outlet pipe. This is for filling the flame trap withwater. The flame trap also has 2 valves, one atthe base to empty the water and another at thetop to draw off the gas. The gas valve has anozzle to tit a rubber gas hose. There is oneother pipe leading out of the gas tank. Itsbottom opening is a few centimeters above thebase of the gas tank. This pipe pierces the top ofthe tank and hooks over the top of the drumwhen the gas tank is in place. This pipe acts asa gas overtlow if the tank becomes too full ofgas.

To generate gas, first the drum is filledabout two-thirds full of water. The gas tank issecured in place inside the drum. The flametrap also must be about two-thirds full of water.The generation process is as follows:

1. A few chunks of carbide are placed in thedrawer. which is set into the generatingchamber. The generating chamber door istightly closed.

2. The inlet valve is opened a few turns,allowing a small amount of water from the drumto trickle onto the carbide.

3. As the water comes in contact with thecarbide, it gives off acetylene gas. This gasleaves the generating chamber through theoutlet pipe and begins filling the top of the gastank.

4. The gas is trapped in the tank by the water.As the gas volume increases, water is displaceddownward out of the gas tank and rises in thedrum outside of the tank.

5. If thegas tank becomes too full, excess gasis bled off through the gas overflow pipe.

6. When the gas valve is opened, the pres-sure of the displaced water in the drum forcesthe gas through the outlet pipe into the bottomof the flame trap. The gas bubbles up throughthe water and is then drawn off through thevalve into the hose to the welding nozzle.

When gas generation ceases, more wateris let into the drawer of carbide in the generat-ing chamber. If no new gas is generated by thisprocess, the carbide is used up and must bereplaced. The carbide drawer can be removed,dumped out. then replaced with new chunks ofcarbide.

150 SMALL INDUSTRIES

Electricity Generating Waterwheel/Kincir Air Pembangkit Listrik

3,

Rural electrification is high on the centralgovernment’s list of development priorities.However. it will be maw years before theelectric grid reaches someisolated areas. OnevillagerinKabupatenTasikmalaya, West Java.decided not to wait.

The man. an illiterate farmer, ponderedthe water rushing by the front of his yard in adeep irrigation canal. Without ever having seenanother waterwheel, he designed and built the,electricity generating kin& air depicted below.Using beIts and pulleys to speed up the rota-tion. he uses the power of falling water to drivea 12 volt automobile alternator. The owner usesthe current to charge both 6 and 12 voltbatteries for a fee. His neighbors bring bat-teries that they use to power radios, cassetteplayers and televisions. Buying an expensiveautomobile or motorcycle battery and thenrecharg%g ii every few days or weeks for a fewmpiah is a much less expensive way to powerthese appliances over the long run than buyingnew dry cell batteries frequently. In addition tohis stmom accu business, the owner of thekincir has mn wires to his house to light twoautomobile taillight bulbs for nightime il-

Iumination.A weir forces the water into a wooden

channel about 35 cm wide by 35 cm deep. Thewater rushes down a ‘/2 meter drop beforesplashing into the wheel. The 1 meter diameterwheel is technically a center-shot wheel, takingon water about half-way up its uphiI1 side.Below the wheel the channel continues to dropso that the wheel is actually out of the water,above the surface of ihe streain as it rushesaway.

The wooden wheel turns on a bearinglessiron pipe axle, revolving about 50 times eachminute. A strip of wooden blocks about 10 cmwide built into one side of the wheel flush withthe wheel’s circumference serves as a seat forthe drive belt. The drive belt, a 7 cm wide stripof truck tire sewn into a large loop, drivesanother wide wooden pulley turning on asecond iron pipe axle anchored to two posts onopposite sides of the stream. This secondaxle is carefully positioned para!lel to thefirst one so that the drive belt is taut anddoes not creep to the side and jump offthe pulley. This is the most cmcial adjust-ment in this simple system.

The secondary drive wheel is made from a40 cm bicycle rim with welded concrete-rein-forcement bar spokes, welded onto the ironpipe axle driven by the primary drive belt. The

SMALL INDCSTRIES 151SMALL INDCSTRIES 151

secondary drive belt, made from a much nar-secondary drive belt, made from a much nar-roxer strip of tire rubber, runs through tworoxer strip of tire rubber, runs through twoholes in the floor of the Shoom Accu shack toholes in the floor of the Shoom Accu shack toloop around the alternator’s pulley. The origin-loop around the alternator’s pulley. The origin-al pulley is still on the ahemator.al pulley is still on the ahemator.

The pulleys’ final drive ratio is ahnostThe pulleys’ final drive ratio is ahnost1:100, meaning that the alternator should be1:100, meaning that the alternator should bespinning at almost 5C00 rpm However, beltspinning at almost 5C00 rpm However, beltslippage reduces the actual speed to less thanslippage reduces the actual speed to less thanhalf of that. This is still enough to keep thehalf of that. This is still enough to keep the

,. needle of the automobile ammeter installed,. needle of the automobile ammeter installedabove the alternator pointing at 30 amps, plentyabove the alternator pointing at 30 amps, plentyofpowerforthisonefarmer’slights andStroomofpowerforthisonefarmer’slights andStroomAccu business.Accu business.

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Decorative Widmills/Kitiran

Small wooden or bamboo windmills calledkitiran are common in many parts of Indonesia,but they are used only for decorations, orocrasionally for scaring birds away from ripen-ing rice fields. It is surprising that a nationcolonized by the Dutch for 350 years did notadopt the technology always associated withthe Netherlands for more practical purposessuch as lifting water or grinding grain.

Kitiran have two or four wooden or bambooblades, cut and fastened so that they presentslanted surfaces to the wind. Many kitiran havelong tails and are set on swiveling bamboobases so that they can turn to always face intothe wind.

On some kitiran, the propellers are con-nected to a shaft, the opposite end of which is acrank which moves a wooden doll, usually ashadow puppet character, a bicyclist, or ahorse. On others the shaft turns one or twoclackers which strike against cans or shortsections of bamboo, causing a clacking noisewhich startles birds.

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Drawing Table/Meja Gambar

My own modifications to the table includea i0 by 90 cm sheet of 5 mm thick glass with awooden frame for the drawing hoard, and aplatform for the slide projector. The size of thepicture can be adjusted by sliding the projectorforward and backward. A short piece of woodwith two holes in it fits over nails set in the tworails on the platform to hold the projector in thedesired position.

At the outset of this project, we agreed thatdrawings can convey messages more clearlythan photographs; with drawings, certainfeatures can be emphasized and distractionseliminated. Drawings are also more easilyreproduced by tracing or photocopying than arephotographs. Without this glass drafting table,this book would have been a much more dif-ficult and time consuming venture.

Mo!;t of the drawings in this book weremade from slides taken of the various tools andactivities. The slides were projected onto theback of the dn,-ing paper and traced, using asmall slide projector and a glass-topped adjust-able drafting table.

The table was purchased from a carpentern e a r lnstitut Teknologi Bandung. He se l l scheap wooden furniture such as cabinets, bedframes and tables. A large number of technicaland a.rchitecture students need inexpensivedrafting tables; the imported models are pro-hiiiitively expensive. The simple design of thistable allows it to be produced quick!y frominexpensive wood and sold at a low price.Notches in the table support arms and in thefront legs allow adjustment of both the heightand angle of the drawing board.