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Wet rice cultivation in Indonesia Chapter six the quality of non-traditional varieties. On the other hand, the quantity or the total amount of harvested kilograms of rice is higher when using non-traditional varieties. Women do the sowing by throwing hands full of biji pare or rice seeds in the pabinihan. To cultivate one hectare of paddy, they need approximately forty kilograms of seed. After one month, the young paddy plants are about thirty centimetres high; now they are ready to be re-sowed to the rest of the sawah by the women 48 . Prior to this, they make grooves in the soil with the large fork, called garu. The women plant the paddy at a distance of twenty centimetres from each other. When finished, farmers will raise the level of the water to ten centimetres, until the harvesting period. 6.4.4 Non-traditional wet rice cultivation – maintenance Maintenance has to take place in between sowing and harvesting, in this case in the months of December and January. Just as in the traditional system, farmers of the non-traditional system have to check the condition of the crop and the irrigation system. Because the nontraditional system implies a cycle of four months, it is necessary that farmers keep in contact with each other throughout the year, especially considering irrigation matters. During the wet season, lasting from October until May, it is also essential that the RT communicates with the farmers, because the non-traditional sawahs of Cisarua are situated lower than the traditional sawahs of the Kasepuhan. In short, non-traditional farmers have to be sure that enough water is flowing downwards in order to fill their sawahs. During the dry season, this communication is not necessary since the Kasepuhan do not cultivate their sawahs in this time of the year. Water is rather scarce in this period, so the non-traditional farmers have to join forces for a good allocation of the water. Within the non-traditional system, every farmer uses chemical fertilisers or pupuk, in order to speed up the growing process of the paddy. One week after the plants are moved, the first fertiliser is distributed. On average, farmers use two hundred kilograms of pupuk per hectare. After one month, another fifty kilograms per hectare is added to the field. The costs for pupuk are Rp. 175,000 (almost € 15.00) per one hundred kilograms. Farmers also use pesticides to protect the crops against mice and rats. The poison is called baruang beurit and is mixed with water, and then sprayed on the field. The mixture consists of two grams of poison with forty litres of water for one hectare of paddy. Farmers spray the poison approximately one week after the women have moved the plants, and once more after one month. The costs for pesticides are Rp. 500 per gram (€ 0.04). 6.4.5 Non-traditional wet rice cultivation – harvesting After approximately three and a half to four months – the crop will be approximately seventy centimetres tall by now – the paddy is ready for harvest. Every family can decide on its own when to harvest; however, they need to consider the fact that a large part of the harvest will be sold. This implies that supply and demand will influence the market price of rice and thus the income of this family. Primarily males are working during the harvesting period. In non-traditional wet rice cultivation, farmers are using a tool called sabit or arit to cut off the last fifteen centimetres of the plant. A consequence of the usage of a sickle is that the people who harvest do not make bundles any longer. In the past, women used to be paid per bundle; therefore, men are primarily doing the harvest in non-traditional wet rice cultivation. Farmers use a basket or tolok for the harvested rice branches. The remaining part of the plant will function as a natural fertiliser for the next planting period and therefore it remains in the soil. On average, farmers can produce three up to four tonnes of rice per hectare with non-traditional wet cultivation. When the harvesting is finished, farmers stop irrigating the field, so that weeds can grow and the field can partly recover for a period of one month. 48 Consult appendix 10 for a schematic overview of sowing on a traditional and non-traditional sawah. 60
Wet rice cultivation in Indonesia Chapter six 6.4.6 Non-traditional wet rice cultivation – post-harvest processing The next phase consists of separating the grains from the branches. This takes place after drying, but it is usually done directly after harvest. Women do the separation by hitting the bundles on a large piece of plastic that is lying on the ground. They do this until the grains come loose and the bundles and branches are empty. Drying the grains of rice also happens on a large piece of plastic. Depending on the amount of sunshine hours, the drying process takes about three to seven days. Farmers who practice non-traditional wet rice cultivation have the choice to thresh the grains by hand or by machine. Choosing for the threshing machine depends on three factors; the availability of diesel and on the time and money that a family wants to spent. In the area of Cisarua, there is one unit of three threshing machines standing next to each other. The first machine filters the grains from small pieces of branches and other organic materials. The second machine threshes the grains roughly and the third machine produces eatable rice. Threshing fifty kilograms of rice takes about thirty minutes with the three machines. The costs for using these machines are Rp. 10,000 (€ 0.83) up to Rp. 12,500 (€ 1.04) per fifty kilograms, depending on the size of the grain. However, the family can also decide to thresh by hand with a lisung, as described in section 6.3.6. In this case, it will take four women approximately three and a half hours of work to produce fifty kilograms of eatable rice. Bags of fifty kilograms are stored in the house of the family of the farmer. If a farmer owns one hectare of wet rice fields and harvests twice a year, the total harvest per year will be between six and eight tonnes. A family of five persons needs 750 tonnes of rice per year, which implies that five up to seven tonnes of rice can be sold per year. Selling one bag of fifty kilograms of rice means a profit of Rp. 50,000 (€ 4.17) to Rp. 100,000 (€ 8.34), depending on the quality of the rice. From this profit, the costs for hired labour, fertilisers and pesticides, threshing with machines and transportation have to be subtracted. Selling the rice can take place in the village of Cisarua; in this case, buyers have to make a two-hour trip from sea level to an altitude of 1,000 meters. Transportation of people and rice happens with motorcycles or four-wheel-drives. Another possibility for the farmers is to go downwards and sell the rice on the market of the town of Pelabuhanratu. However, the costs for a truck that can carry twenty bags of fifty kilograms is Rp. 100,000 and most farmers cannot afford this. The small stony tracks are very dangerous to drive on, so only a few experienced drivers are able to do the transportation. In the rainy season, the tracks can be flooded so that transportation is impossible. Moreover, once the bags of rice have arrived in Pelabuhanratu, there is no guarantee that they all bags will be sold. In short, there are quite some uncertainties in relation to transportation for those farmers who practise nontraditional wet rice cultivation. The consequence of these transportation problems for many farmers is a surplus of rice and a sometimes even a lack of income. 6.4.7 Overview of the characteristics of non-traditional wet rice cultivation After the harvesting period, farmers do not cultivate the fields for one month. Continuing, the cycle starts again. We can conclude that non-traditional rice-farmers cultivate their fields twice a year. This system is organic for approximately ten percent, for the other ninety percent farmers use fertilisers and pesticides. During the sowing period, women sow with seeds and do not use rice branches. These non-traditional seeds are often high-yielding varieties, meaning that they are crossbred or genetically modified. It also possible for these farmers to use traditional varieties, as long as these varieties are fast growing and fit into the cycle of two harvests per year. Harvesting happens with a tool called sabit or arit, which is a sickle that works rather quick. The grains are separated of the branches by hitting the bundles on plastic. Continuing, the grains are dried in the sun on a piece of plastic for three up to seven days. Threshing the grains is possible with machines or with a lisung. Producing rice with this system implies higher costs due to the intensive cultivation. These costs consist of labour, fertilisers and pesticides, threshing with machines and transportation. The 61
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