Perkebunan Jambu Mente di Pulau Sumba (Cashew Plantation on Sumba Island)

Pulau Sumba, Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur, adalah salah satu pulau yang memiliki perkebunan Jambu Mente luas di Indonesia. Perkebunan Jambu Mente rakyat terbesar di daerah tersebut berada di Kabupaten Sumba Barat Daya, yang meliputi enam kecamatan yaitu Loura, Kota Tambolaka, Kodi, Kodi Mbangedo, Kodi Utara dan Kodi Balaghar. Sampai sekarang ini masyarakat (petani) di Sumba Barat Daya menjandikan lahan - lahan perkebunan mereka dipenuhi tanaman Jambu mente ini dan biji jambu mente menjadi hasil perkebunan selain komoditi lainnya seperti kelapa, pisang yang mulai berkurang dikarenakan terserang hama dan digantikan dengan jagung. Biji Jambu mente dijual ke pengumpul  masih dalam bentuk gelondongan (bahan mentah). Setelah dipanen atau dipetik, langsung dijual bersama kulit atau tempurungnya ke saudagar mente.

Sumba Island, East of Nusa Tenggara Province, is one of the islands that has extensive cashew plantations in Indonesia. The largest  cashew nut plantation owned by community in the area is in Southwest Sumba Regency, which covers six sub-districts such as Loura, Tambolaka City, Kodi, Kodi Mbangedo, North Kodi and Kodi Balaghar. Until now, the people (farmers) in Southwest Sumba have planted their plantations full of cashew crops and cashew nuts have become plantation products in addition to other commodities such as coconuts, bananas which have begun to decrease due to pest attacks and replaced by corn. Cashew nuts sold to collectors are still in the form of logs (raw material). After harvesting or picking, it is immediately sold with the skin or shell to the cash trader.

Biji Mente Pada Jambu Mente (Cashew Seeds on Cashew Fruits)

Pohon Jambu Mente ini memiliki dahan yang rindang dan sangat cocok tumbuh di Pulau Sumba tempatnya di Sumba Barat Daya dan saat berwisata ke Sumba saya melewati hamparan kebun Jambu Mente hampir di sebagian besar pekarangan warga. Buah jambu mente menurut referensi di beberapa blog lainnya menyebutkan bahwa  memiliki kandungan zat gizi yang lengkap sebagai sumber vitamin tinggi dan mineral. Sebuah penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Sutanto (2012) dalam Vincensia Kaleka (2017), Mahasiswa Fakultas Bioteknologi Universitas Duta Wacana Yogyakarta, mengandung karbohidrat berupa glukosa dan fruktosa sebanyak 15,9 %, protein 0,7 %, vitamin C 197 mg/100g, vitamin A 15 mcg/100g, thiamin (B1) 0,02 mcg/100g, riboflavin (B2) dan niasin (Sumber : Kompasiana).

This cashew tree has a shady branch and is very suitable to grow on the island of Sumba especially in south west of Sumba and when I was traveling to Sumba island then I passed a stretch of cashew nut garden in most of the residents' yard. The cashew fruit according to references in several other blogs stated that it has complete nutritional content as a source of high vitamins and minerals. A study conducted by Sutanto (2012) in Vincensia Kaleka (2017), Biotechnology Student of Duta Wacana University in Yogyakarta, mentioning that it's fruits contains carbohydrates in the form of glucose and fructose as much as 15.9%, 0.7% protein, vitamin C 197 mg / 100g, vitamins A 15 mcg / 100g, thiamin (B1) 0.02 mcg / 100g, riboflavin (B2) and niacin (Source: Kompasiana).

Pohon Jambu Mente (Cashew Tree)

Pohon Jambu Mente (Cashew Tree)

Pohon Jambu Mente (Cashew Tree)

Pohon Jambu Mente (Cashew Tree)

Pohon Jambu Mente (Cashew Tree)

Pohon Jambu Mente (Cashew Tree)

Banyak penelitian yang telah dilakukan terhadap karakteristik tanaman jambu mete seperti penelitian yang telah dilakukan di kecamatan Wewewa, Kabupaten Sumba Barat Daya, Propinsi NTT. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hasil seleksi terhadap populasi tanaman jambu mete di Kecamatan Wewewa, Kabupaten Sumba Barat Daya, Propinsi NTT terdapat aksesi jambu mete yang berpotensi produksi tinggi. Terdapat 11 pohon yang berpotensi hasil tinggi (16,5 – 48,1 kg gelondong/pohon), empat pohon buah semuanya berwarna kuning dan tujuh pohon berwarna merah, dengan bobot gelondong kacang mete dan rendemen kacang mete berturut-turut sebesar 5,8; 1,9; dan 31,4%. (Sumber : Saefudin/Balittri). Sangat bagus tentunya tatkala permintaan biji jambu mente dunia untuk menghasilkan olahan kacang mente yang mulai meningkat dan mudah-mudahan ada investor yang akan tertarik untuk mengolah buahnya yang penuh kandungan bermanfaat. 

Much research has been done on the characteristics of cashew crops such as research that has been conducted in Wewewa sub-district, Southwest of Sumba Regency, NTT Province. The results showed that the selection of cashew plant populations in Wewewa District, South west of Sumba Regency, NTT Province had access to grow well which had high potential production. There are 11 trees with high yield potential (16.5 - 48.1 kg of logs / trees), four fruit trees are all yellow and seven trees are red, with weights of cashew nuts and cashew nut yields of 5.8; 1.9; and 31.4%. (Source: Saefudin / Balittri). It is very good, of course, when the world demand for  cashew nuts to produce processed cashew nuts materials is starting to increase and hopefully there will be investors who will be interested in processing its fruit that also good due to its useful contents.

Article and Photos by Ketut Rudi


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