Clove Plant (Syzigium aromaticum)

[25/10 12.55] Andi Riyanto: Clove plants (Syzigium aromaticum) are plantation / industrial plants in the form of trees with the family Myrtaceae. The origin of this clove plant is unclear, because there are some opinions that the clove tree originates from North Maluku, Maluku Islands, the Philippines or Irian. In the Maluku archipelago the oldest clove plant in the world is found and this area is the single largest producer of cloves in the world.

The spread of clove plants out of the Moluccas began in 1769. The seedlings of this plant were first smuggled by a captain from France to Romania, then spread to Zanzibar and Madagascar. The spread of clove plants to regions of Indonesia such as Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan only began in 1870. Until now, clove plants have spread throughout the world.

clove is known as an herb which is used as traditional medicine. Clove is one of the producers of essential oils that are commonly used as raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry and the food industry, while the most use is as a cigarette raw material.

Superior varieties planted:

Clove Snail:
¨ Large leaves and yellow or light green;

¨ Branches less lush;

¨ Flowers are large, yellow in color and amount to dozens per family.

Sikotok Cloves:
¨ Small leaves, green to dark green and more shiny;

¨ Lush and low branches, all branches covered with leaves;

¨ Reddish yellow flowers, each clump of 20-50 flowers.

Zanzibar Cloves:
¨ The shape of long leaves is sleek and dark green;

¨ Red flowers with high production;

¨ Is the best type.
[25/10 12.56] Andi Riyanto: GROWTH TERMS

Climate
Cloves require a hot climate with fairly even rainfall, because these plants cannot stand long droughts.

Wind that is too strong can damage the canopy of plants.

Optimal rainfall for clove plant growth between 1500-4500 mm / year.

Cloves require sunlight at least 8 hours per day.

The optimal temperature of this plant is desired 22-30 oC, with humidity between 60-80%.

Growing media
Good soil types are latosol, andosol and red podsolic. Like loose soil with good drainage.

The degree of acidity (pH) suitable for clove plants is 5.5-5.6.

The depth of the ground water in the rainy season is not shallower than 3 m from the ground surface and in the dry season is no more than 8 m.

Land with a slope up to 20% better than flat land, because the dranasenya good. The dranase trench must be made as deep as 1 meter deep so that the water overflows during the rainy season can be channeled in another direction.

Place Height
Clove plants are suitable at 0-900 m above sea level. (most optimum at 300-600 m above sea level) or located at a height of more than 900 m above sea level, with a stretch of land facing the sea.
[25/10 12.57] Andi Riyanto: TECHNICAL CULTURE

Nursery
Seedlings must be healthy, have sturdy stems with strong branches, dense leaves, not attacked by pests and diseases, stem surface, smooth brown, and single trunked. The average height is 25-30 cm aged 1 year and 50-75 cm aged 2 years.

Planting
Spacing in the lowlands 7 x 7 m, 6 x 8 m or 8 x 8m
Plant spacing in the highlands 10 x 10 m or 8 x 12 m.
The location of plants in a row to form a square or rectangle.

Pest and Disease Control.
Pests that commonly attack clove plants are borer, shoot destroyer, leaf destroyer and root destroyer. While diseases that often attack include Bacteria Vessels Clove (BPKC), Clove Leaf Pox (CDC), Die back (dead branches), soot dew. For its control, insecticides / fungicides can be used as recommended.

Harvest
Harvest characteristics and age
¨ The head of the flower looks full, but not yet opened.

¨ The age of clove crop harvest is 4.5-8.5 years since it is planted depending on the type of environment.

¨ When harvesting there are several stages, the first if 50-60% of the number of flowers in the tree has been plucked. This picking can be repeated every 10-14 days for 3-4 months. In Java, the harvest starts in May and ends July-August. This depends on the local climate.
[25/10 12.57] Andi Riyanto: How to Harvest
Before picking starts, the tools that need to be prepared are small sacks or bamboo baskets and large sacks. If the plant is already high enough and the flowers are not reached by the hand, it is necessary to prepare a four-legged triangle ladder. Plucking by climbing trees is not recommended because it can damage the canopy of plants. The picking method is as follows:

¨ Clove flowers picked pertandan just above the last leaf book using a finger nail or a small sharp knife.

¨ The last / youngest leaf adjacent to the flower should not be picked so that it does not interfere with the growth of the next shoot. If the leaves are picked, they can reduce the number of shoots 1 / 3-1 / 2 parts.

¨ Flowers that have been picked are put into baskets or small sacks that have been prepared in advance. After it is full, the flowers are put in large sacks to be taken to the processing facility.

Harvest Period
Clove plants in Indonesia have a typical production period, which has a number of production that fluctuates according to a certain cycle. In certain years the plant will produce a lot of production, and in certain years the production can decrease up to 10-40%. Clove crop production patterns can be classified into 2-year cycle patterns and 3-4-year cycles.

The 2-year cycle pattern generally contains areas that have a real influence on the marine climate. In this cycle, plants will produce high or moderate in the first year, then the following year will be low. In the following year, production will return to the first year.

Cycles of 3-4 years generally have areas that cannot be influenced by the marine climate. In this cycle high production will be repeated every 3-4 years, with varying patterns.
[25/10 12.58] Andi Riyanto: QUALITY CLASSIFICATION AND STANDARDS

Indonesian clove quality standards are:

Size: Equal
Color: Blackish brown
Odor: Not musty
Maximum foreign material: 0.5-1.0%
Maximum handle: 1.0-5.0%
Maximum broken clove: 0%
Maximum water content: 14.0%
Maximum inferior cloves: 2-5%
Maximum essential content: 16-20%

CRITICAL FACTORS

Clove plants have two critical periods in their life cycle, namely before the plants reach the age of 3 years and after the age of 8 years, especially at the beginning and after the first harvest.
Maceration temperature and type of vegetable oil give different eugenol yield. The crushed clove condition gives a higher yield of eugenol than the clove that is still intact.
The interaction of clove flower organ and 4 hours distillation (O3L4) can increase the highest yield of essential oils reaching 6.77 (mg / 100 g of material) and also the lowest water content reaches 0.27% and the lowest acid number is 2.03.
RENDEMEN

Oil from bad clove leaves / low quality (deciduous clove leaves which naturally dry by the sun and then re-wetted by rain, rot, and dry again by the sun, and so on, and are not fragrant cloves) produce an average yield of 1.3 %
Good quality deciduous oil from clove leaves (clove leaves that are purely sun dried, without being wet with rain, and still smells of clove) yields an average yield of 3.6%
Clove stem oil produces an average yield of 5.0%.
[25/10 12.58] Andi Riyanto: QUALITY CLASSIFICATION AND STANDARDS

Indonesian clove quality standards are:

Size: Equal
Color: Blackish brown
Odor: Not musty
Maximum foreign material: 0.5-1.0%
Maximum handle: 1.0-5.0%
Maximum broken clove: 0%
Maximum water content: 14.0%
Maximum inferior cloves: 2-5%
Maximum essential content: 16-20%

CRITICAL FACTORS

Clove plants have two critical periods in their life cycle, namely before the plants reach the age of 3 years and after the age of 8 years, especially at the beginning and after the first harvest.
Maceration temperature and type of vegetable oil give different eugenol yield. The crushed clove condition gives a higher yield of eugenol than the clove that is still intact.
The interaction of clove flower organ and 4 hours distillation (O3L4) can increase the highest yield of essential oils reaching 6.77 (mg / 100 g of material) and also the lowest water content reaches 0.27% and the lowest acid number is 2.03.
RENDEMEN

Oil from bad clove leaves / low quality (deciduous clove leaves which naturally dry by the sun and then re-wetted by rain, rot, and dry again by the sun, and so on, and are not fragrant cloves) produce an average yield of 1.3 %
Good quality deciduous oil from clove leaves (clove leaves that are purely sun dried, without being wet with rain, and still smells of clove) yields an average yield of 3.6%
CLOVE POTENTIAL

Clove is one of the commodities in the plantation sub-sector, which is largely cultivated by smallholder plantations. The main results of clove plants are the flowers that are harvested when the flower petals have not bloomed. Dried clove flower is one of the main raw materials for kretek cigarettes which is a typical Indonesian cigarette. In the early 1990s, the total clove area reached around 700,000 ha with a production of 120,000 tons per year. The production has exceeded the needs of cloves in the country which at that time around 100,000 tons per year, resulting in an oversupply. Indonesia's clove production since 1996 has decreased as a result of price uncertainty which has caused farmers to be reluctant to maintain their crops. Based on clove production data, especially in 2004 and 2005 there was a supply deficit, because the needs of the kretek cigarette industry averaged 92,133 tons per year. It is estimated that in the next five years, the production of cloves will be absorbed to meet the needs of cigarette factories.

The potential of clove plants that have not been used optimally are clove leaves (deciduous leaves) and flower stalks. Processed products that can be produced from flowers, leaves and flower stems (handles) are (1) clove oil, (2) eugenol from clove oil and (3) derivatives of eugenol.
[25/10 12.59] Andi Riyanto: CLOVE AGROINDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT PROSPECT

The potential and prospects for developing clove agro-industry refer to the clove industrial tree (Figure 2). Indonesia is currently a producer country, as well as the largest clove consumer in the world. Two other countries that are quite potential as producers of cloves are Madagascar and Zanzibar (Tanzania), whose total production is around 15,000 tons / year. Downstream agribusiness businesses that can be carried out include:

Improving the quality of dried clove flowers through improved postharvest handling (threshing, wet sorting to separate flowers and flower stalks and dirt, flower drying and flower stalks, packaging and storage).
Increased production and quality of clove flour as a spice for household consumption and the food industry.
Increased production and quality of clove leaf oil (and pedals / flower stalks), through improved oil distillation technology.
Diversification of clove leaf oil products through increased production and quality of eugenol, by improving eugenol isolation technology.
Diversification of clove leaf oil products through increased production and quality of vegetable pesticides (fungicides and insecticides).

CLOVE AGROINDUSTRY INVESTMENT NEEDS

The objectives of investing in clove agribis are:

Opening job opportunities,
Increase farmers' income,
Increase the use of clove plant products in a sustainable manner to get added value,
Encourage regional economic development,
Increase national income / foreign exchange.
Targets to be achieved in investment include:

Maintaining the balance of clove supply and demand for clove cigarette factories,
Creating a fair and harmonious partnership between farmers and the cigarette industry / traders in order to reach a price agreement that benefits all parties,
Increase the value of cloves through diversification of clove products.