Bangli, Peace and Harmony

Orange Squash of Kintamani

People, who are not familiar with this Balinese distinctive cake, can be slightly annoyed or it even may cause inconvenience. Its name is klepon and its size is small, somewhat larger than marbles. This cake is made from the mixture of white sticky rice flour, palm sugar and enriched with vanilla flavour, natural colouring agent taken from the extract of suji leaf and a small amount of lime for chewing with betel leaf.

According to the data belonging to the Office of Agricultural, Estate and Forestry, the orange plantation in Bangli Regency amounts to 81,000 trunks in which 74,000 of them occur at Kintamani sub district producing 429 tons per annum. It tastes sweet, has high content of water and when ripe, it will have a yellow color.
Its selling price ranges between IDR 5,000 – IDR 8,000 per kg depending on its quality. Apart from being sold at local markets and super markets, this Kintamanian orange is also sold beyond Bali, chiefly in the big cities on Java Island. This orange is widely used by the Hindus in Bali for the needs of yajna ritual and as a food supplement (source of vitamin C).
To meet the demand of consumers, a squash manufacturer of Kintamanian orange under the brand name of Catelmas (Catur Telaga Mas) has been established since June 2006 at Catur Village – Kintamani. This orange squash is packaged in plastic glass that was introduced on the celebration of Indonesian Independence Day last 17 August 2006 at the Captain Mudita Square, Bangli. At that time, this new orange product was really sold well. "The squash of Kintamanian orange has natural aroma," said Nengah Sudibya, Programme Division Head of the Office of Cooperative and Trade of Bangli Regency. According to Sudibya, the Government of Bangli Regency carries on with encouraging the cultivation of orange plants in their region. To maintain the production of this orange several efforts have been made such as mentoring the farmers covering the five activities like seedling culture, fertilization, land cultivation, pest control and proper marketing system.
It should be noted that orange farmers in Bangli Regency are continually engulfed by lethal pest problem (viruses) on their orange plants. On that account, the pest control now draws serious attention. "If they are less alert, it will result in fatal impacts," he said while adding that some kinds of pest attacking the orange plants are: leaf beetle (Diaphorina citri), tristeza or a disease characterized by yellowed leaves, wilting, and root destruction, caused by a virus. Similarly, there are also diseases caused by parasitic fungus called Botryodiplodia theobromae, root rots by Phytophtora nicotinae var. parasitica as well as other diseases. And, the most touching disease is the CVPD. (BTN/suka)