Page 131 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

jamu manufacturer might receive an inappropriate plant species from collectors,

which results in exhaustive sorting and unavoidable wastage. To reduce this kind
of error and ensure regular supplies, some manufacturers leave out the
middleman-collector entirely and buy direct from the villages. They also help
small suppliers by investing capital in their business. Another option is
distributing seeds and rhizomes to villagers for planting. When leaves, roots and
barks are ready for harvesting, the manufacturer buys them back on an exclusive
basis.
In recent years, skilled pickers have become increasingly rare. Youngsters
do not want this kind of work and the ability to distinguish the various medicinal
plants is gradually being lost. The answer may lie in organized cultivation or
using specialist commercial growers, but these options have yet to be

implemented on any large scale. As the system works currently, the collector’s
leaves, roots and herbs are mainly sold in the markets and small shops, or go to a
middleman who is also confusingly known as the collector. In some cases it is
the initial collector who dries his produce, especially when quantities are small,
and sells on these dried products to the middleman collector. In other cases it is
the middleman who undertakes the drying of jamu ingredients before selling
these to the jamu makers.
Such people work long hours. In many areas, the working week of a herbal

wholesaler comprises seven days. Their shops often stay open six days a week,
while some wholesalers travel to collect fresh raw materials on Sundays.
The collectors are experts on quality—it is in their own interest to ensure
that the raw materials accepted will, in turn, be of the quality required for jamu
manufacture. Raw materials are usually picked during the dry summer months—
May to September—but since factories usually require stocks on a monthly
basis, storage is also a consideration. Most herbs are pre-dried and can be kept in
sacks for months or even a year.