Soil Sampling in Indonesia: A Road Trip Across Bali

One of our LANDMARC LMT focus areas in Indonesia is soil carbon enhancement through in-situ measurement. We want to analyse the decarbonisation impact on soil through agroforestry practices. Therefore, we arranged a tight schedule for soil sampling at our farmers' locations across Bali for three days. We worked together with Bioclear in the Netherlands, who provided the sampling kits.

Indri, Tahir and Cynthia started the trip on March 28. We began the day by meeting with Bali AIAT to install a biogas digester for a cacao farmer in Jembrana. We arrived at the cacao farm after a 3-hours drive. We started preparing for the installation right away and continued with the first batch of soil sampling. It was a difficult process as the soil was hard to dig. Fortunately, we have support from one of the Bali AIAT's staff and two superhumans - Indri & Tahir - who could do it in the end!

On the next day, we visited Pak Cakra in Jembrana. Pak Cakra is a Robusta coffee and cacao farmer who has been working with us for five years . We started collaborating with him in the GreenWin & TRANSRisk projects. Now, he is on board with us for LANDMARC! We did the second batch of soil sampling at his coffee & cacao farm. Seeing Pak Cakra again brought back so many memories.

Then we continued the trip to Tangguwisia Beach, located in the Buleleng area. We spent around 2 hours getting there. We did the third batch of soil sampling here, which was a unique experience. Do you have any idea why? It is because this time, the plant was not coffee or cocoa. It was Pongamia Pinnata! Have you ever heard about this plant before?

It is interesting to analyse Pongamia Pinnata since it is a potential plant for oil, bioenergy feedstock, cosmetics, alternative food, etc. This plant can contribute to carbon sequestration and nitrous oxide pollution reduction. The soil characteristic where Pongamia Pinnata grows were easier than in our previous areas, since it is located on the beach sand, and the process was so smooth!

We took the fourth and fifth batches of soil samples at Pak Dudung & Bali Beans in the Kintamani area. We had a difficult trip since the road access is not easy. We did a total of 36 soil samplings in both locations, which made this is the longest time we spent so far. However, compared to the Jembrana area, this was the easiest sampling we did. Then we interviewed them to assess the social and psychological perspectives of farmers and learn more about their farms and experiences.

We wanted to get everything done as quickly as possible because it was our last day, and we needed to return to Canggu before it got dark. Overall, we are extremely grateful to visit the farms and meet with some of our farmers in person.

The samples are now being return to the Netherlands for analysis. Stay tuned for more information about our projects!