Tobacco Industry in Payakumbuh, 1911

Photo: Jean Demmeni/Universiteit Leiden

One of the colonial traces that still remains today is the tobacco industry. Starting from plantations in the upstream to production in the downstream. Java and Sumatra were mainly centers of large plantations, including tobacco.

The tobacco industry exploded around the 1870s in West Sumatra, and the main producing area was Payakumbuh. However, unlike Deli tobacco, which was exported to the European market, Payakumbuh tobacco could only be sold in the Dutch East Indies because its quality did not meet export requirements.

The difference in the quality of tobacco was due to the different treatment methods of the workers. Plantation workers in Deli were more professional in plant care so the results were very good.

Photo: Jean Demmeni/Universiteit Leiden

There was a profession that was quite unique in Payakumbuh related to tobacco, namely the tobacco mixer. His job was chopping tobacco like in the photo above. This tobacco mixer profession lasted until now in Payakumbuh to make chopped tobacco.

Photo: Jean Demmeni/Universiteit Leiden

The chopped tobacco was then dried in the sun before it was ready to be packaged. Payakumbuh tobacco was then sold in Sumatra, Java, and several other islands in the archipelago.