shallots as a farmer's commodity

 Shallots are one of the leading vegetable commodities that have been intensively cultivated by farmers for a long time. This vegetable commodity belongs to the group of non-substituted spices that function as food seasonings as well as ingredients for traditional medicines. The average production growth of shallots during the period 1989-2003 was 3.9% per year. The growth component of harvested area (3.5%) actually contributed more to the growth of shallot production compared to the productivity component (0.4%). Shallots are produced in 24 of the 30 provinces in Indonesia. The main producing provinces (harvested area > 1 000 hectares per year) of shallots include North Sumatra, West Sumatra, West Java, Central Java, DI Yogya, East Java, Bali, NTB and South Sulawesi. These nine provinces accounted for 95.8% (Java contributed 75%) of the total shallot production in Indonesia in 2003.

The average consumption of shallots for 2004 was 4.56 kg/capita/year or 0.38 kg/capita/month (Directorate General of Horticulture, 2004). Estimated domestic demand for these commodities in 2004 reached 915 550 tons (consumption = 795 264 tons; seeds, exports and industry = 119 286 tons). The profile of shallot farming is mainly characterized by 80% of the farmers who are small farmers with an area of ​​<0.5 ha. Various varieties of shallots cultivated by farmers include Yellow (Rimpeg, Berawa, Sidapurna, and Tablet), Bangkok Warso, Bima Timor, Bima Sawo, Bima Brebes, Engkel, Bangkok, Philippines and Thailand. Meanwhile, the red onion varieties that farmers prefer to plant in the dry season are the Philippines (imported) varieties. The peak of shallot harvest in Indonesia occurs for almost 6-7 months each year, and is concentrated between June-December-January, while the empty months of harvest occur in February-May and November. Based on these observations, the peak growing season is estimated to occur in April-October.