Housewives asked to plant garlic at home

DEPOK. Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail has encouraged the members of the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) program in the municipality to plant garlic and shallots in their home gardens to stabilize the market price of the most basic seasonings in Indonesian cuisine.

He told 900 housewives during a meeting at his office on Thursday that home gardening could create self-sustainability and thus reduce market demand. “[Home gardening] could become a solution in dealing with the increasing prices of shallots and garlic. At the very least, the residents would no longer have to buy them and they could even sell the produce,” Nur Mahmudi said.

“The members have been long involved in the municipality’s Women Movement for Backyards Optimalization [GPOP], so I don’t anticipate any difficulties in trying to help them realize this.”

Nur Mahmudi, who holds a doctorate in food science and technology from Texas A&M University, also suggested the PKK members get creative with their cooking skills by substituting other seasonings in lieu of shallots and garlic. “We could use other spices to decrease consumption while waiting for prices to return to normal,” he said.

PKK is a nationwide program in which wives of civil servants, chaired by the wife of the highest ranked official or incumbent leader, educate housewives on how to support their husbands and raise a family. The Agriculture Ministry launched the home gardening movement in 2011 to cope with the high prices of chili.

The price hike resulted from the government’s move to curb the import of various horticulture products while local produce could not meet the market demand.

In Depok, the price of a kilogram of shallots has reached Rp 50,000 (US$5.2) while garlic is now Rp 60,000 per kilogram. Last month, the prices were hovering at Rp 20,000 per kilogram. Ariyanto, a vegetable vendor in Vila Mutiara Cinere, Depok, said that he would usually buy at least 3 kilograms of shallots and garlic every day. “I only buy one kilogram of each now because I don’t want to lose money if they don’t sell out.”

Mampang resident Kiki Handa-yani, 38, said she decided to not buy the basic ingredients from the market due to high prices.

“I don’t want to pay Rp 4,000 for 10 cloves of garlic. I’d rather use instant seasonings,” she said.

(Yuli Tri Suwarni/The Jakarta Post)