SIMBORO, Indonesia — Tucked between the village and the forest, Haruna and his father-in-law worked diligently through the night distilling dried patchouli plants, stoking the boiler with ...

Patchouli thrives in Indonesia’s tropical climate, which supplies over 80% of the global market. Prices for one kilogram of patchouli oil for farmers can be up to 2.4 million rupiah ($147).

With a deep, earthy, musky scent, patchouli oil is derived from the leaves of the Pogostemon cablin plant, a member of the mint family. It's native to Southeast Asia, mostly in Indonesia. The ...

Before patchouli, Hardi cultivated cloves, but the long harvest period and declining market prices prompted him to make a change. He turned to patchouli, plants that are smaller and more like ...

Demand for the patchouli plant’s oils has skyrocketed in recent years, and so too has the number of farmers in the region who now grow and process it. SIMBORO, Indonesia — Tucked between the ...