The “Vanille de l’île de la Réunion” PGI is indisputably a tool for the protection of traditional production in Reunion Island and guarantees consumers the origin and quality of beans sold. It is therefore essential to ensuring the safeguard of Reunionese production, even though the process remains difficult to implement.
Reference
Floris, D. (de). 1857. La culture du vanillier. Lahuppe, La Réunion.
Chapter 19. Vanilla Production in Indonesia
Robber Zaubin, Mesak Tombe, and Edward C.Y. Liew
Introduction
The centers of vanilla production in Indonesia are the provinces of North Sumatera, Lampung, West Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and South Sulawesi, with increasing areas being developed, including those in Kalimantan, Maluku, and Papua (Figure 19.1). Most vanilla estates are run by smallholders and only small parts are of private entrepreneurs. In the international market Indonesian vanilla is known as Java Vanilla Beans.
FIGURE 19.1 Map of Indonesia showing the main producing areas.
The main constraints in the vanilla industry in Indonesia are low productivity and the relatively low bean quality (Hadipoentyanti et al., 2007). According to the Diratpagar (Directorate General of Estate Crops, 1995), vanilla production ranged from 125 to 876 kg/ha, and the quality had still to be improved. Production is affected, among others, by environmental conditions, types of vanilla grown, cultural practices, and occurrence of pests and diseases. Vanilla quality (vanillin content of bean) is commonly influenced by time of harvest, length of beans, and postharvest processes. This chapter attempts to provide some information on the low productivity and quality of vanilla beans in Indonesia, and on the results of research conducted to improve the situation.
The Current Situation
Vanilla planifolia cuttings were introduced to Bogor (West Java) in 1819 by Marchal. The plants grew well, produced flowers but bore no fruit. It soon became obvious that self-pollination of the flowers was not possible in the absence of the natural pollinating bees in Java. In 1836, Morren succeeded in pollinating the flowers manually at the botanical garden at Luik (Belgium) and a few years later, the technique was improved for routine farm use by Edmond Albius on Réunion Island. In 1850, Theysman succeeded in producing vanilla beans in Java (Deinum, 1949), and since then plantations of vanilla spread all over Indonesia.
Prior to 1967, vanilla production in Indonesia had been centered in Java, such as Malang (East Java), Temanggung (Central Java), and Garut (West Java). Owing to the heavy damages caused by disease outbreaks and long periods of drought, vanilla production was developed outside Java, for example, Bali, Lampung, and North Sumatera in the 1970s, and since 1980 further expanded to include North Sulawesi, West Sumatera, Aceh, and East Nusa Tenggara (Anonymous, 1993).
Vanilla Production
Farmers in Indonesia are not specialized vanilla producers; they also grow miscellaneous crops, which function as the main source of income. Such crops include durian, mango, papaya, corn, cassava, sweet potato, peanut, and others planted as secondary crops in the dry season. As a smallholder commodity, vanilla is farmed in small areas scattered in regions with limited agronomic inputs. A common practice is the maintenance of farms only when the price of vanilla is high, and new farms are often initiated without much consideration given to understanding the technical requirements for vanilla cultivation.
Soil and climatic conditions in the production areas are often not optimal, in particular, sandy soil and prolonged dry season, while the plant material or genetic source of vanilla is mostly of inferior types. There are many types of V. planifolia grown in Indonesia, such as the Anggrek, Gisting, Cilawu, Malang, Ungaran Daun Tipis, Ungaran Daun Tebal, Bacan, Bandialit, and Bali. Although derived from the same species, these types of vanilla have varying production potentials (Asnawi and Nuryani, 1995). Production output therefore differs greatly from one farm to another, especially when multiple factors are involved.
Most vanilla farms use gamal (Gliricidia maculata) or lamtoro (Leucaena glauca) as supporting trees with planting spacing of about 1.0 m × 1.5 m and 1.5 m × 2.0 m, respectively. Cultural practices, such as weed control, pruning of support trees to control shade, fertilizer use, and pest and disease control are limited. Applications of fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides are commonly ignored due to the high cost of input and the high risk of production loss due to diseases. Only during periods when the price of vanilla is relatively high are fertilizers applied. This further contributes to the inconsistency in production levels. The suggested dosage of fertilizer use is 50–100 g NPK (1:2:2)/plant/year for plants of less than two years old, and 100–200 g NPK (1:2:3)/plant/year for plants more than two years old, applied 50% at the beginning and 50% at the end of the rainy season. The high dosage of potash compared to nitrogen is supposed to increase stem rot tolerance (Zaubin et al., 1994). Where necessary, vanilla also needs foliar spray of nutrients every 1–2 weeks, with a concentration of 5–8 g NPK (1:1:1)/L of water. The nutrient solution is applied in the morning between 6 and 7 a.m. or late afternoon between 5 and 6 p.m. when the relative humidity is high (Ernawati, 1993). Gusmaini and Tarigan (1999) suggested the use of 0.4% of Gandasil D (NPKMg 14:12:14:15 plus trace elements) every four days. Vanilla farmers, however, prefer to use compost or manure, the application rates of which unfortunately are too low (3–5 kg/plant/year).
Vanilla is grown from sea level to the highlands (up to 1200 m asl). Although vanilla can grow in a wide range of temperatures, from 9°C to 38°C, Chalot (in Deinum, 1949) mentioned that the optimum temperature for vanilla is about 25°C, which occurs at elevations between 200 and 400 m asl. Temperatures lower than 18.6°C are considered very low and will affect the activity of enzymes responsible for the aroma and the development of vanilla beans (Zaubin and Wahid, 1995).
During the dry season, the lack of precipitation, low atmospheric humidity, and high temperature lead to water stress that weakens the plants, rendering them more vulnerable to pests and diseases. The most destructive disease is stem rot, caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vanillae (Tombe et al., 1997), and is discussed in detail in Chapter 8.
Production begins in the second or third year of planting. Farmers usually retain 8–15 beans/inflorescence, while the number of inflorescences/plant varies. Harvesting is conducted gradually by picking only the ripe beans, as indicated by a slight fading of the green color and yellowing of the tips. This condition occurs at 8–9 months after pollination. The average production is 0.2 kg mature beans/plant, although the production potential is about 1.0 kg/plant (Hadipoentyanti et al., 2006).