<strong>Wet</strong> <strong>rice</strong> <strong>cultivation</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Indonesia</strong> Chapter six 66
<strong>Wet</strong> <strong>rice</strong> <strong>cultivation</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Indonesia</strong> Chapter six 6.6 Conclusions In this chapter, we analysed traditional wet <strong>rice</strong> <strong>cultivation</strong> of Kasepuhan farmers and nontraditional wet <strong>rice</strong> <strong>cultivation</strong> of non-Kasepuhan farmers. The ma<strong>in</strong> goal was to describe the characteristics of both systems and to make clear what the differences and similarities are. Traditional wet <strong>rice</strong> <strong>cultivation</strong> of the Kasepuhan can be characterised as follows. There is only one harvest per year. This is only for consumption and not for sale. Traditional leaders take the most important decisions consider<strong>in</strong>g the tim<strong>in</strong>g of irrigation, plough<strong>in</strong>g, sow<strong>in</strong>g and harvest<strong>in</strong>g. The highest traditional leader called Abah Anom has a decisive <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> this process. Sow<strong>in</strong>g happens by lay<strong>in</strong>g <strong>rice</strong> branches on the soil; farmers cannot use chemical fertilisers and pesticides; harvest<strong>in</strong>g is done with a traditional cutt<strong>in</strong>g tool; dry<strong>in</strong>g bundles happens on a frame with layers; stor<strong>in</strong>g the bundles takes place <strong>in</strong> a traditional hut and thresh<strong>in</strong>g must be done <strong>in</strong> a lisung or hollow tree trunk. On average, there is a yield of two tonnes of high quality <strong>rice</strong> per hectare. Throughout the year, there are ceremonies on different levels, such as tebar before sow<strong>in</strong>g, syukuran for the protection of crops and Seren Taun as a harvest and thanksgiv<strong>in</strong>g festival. Non-traditional wet <strong>rice</strong> <strong>cultivation</strong> practised by non-Kasepuhan farmers has other characteristics. There are two harvests per year, partly for consumption and partly as a commodity product. The family takes most decisions <strong>in</strong>dependent from others, except on irrigation matters. Sow<strong>in</strong>g takes place with seeds or gra<strong>in</strong>s; farmers speed up the grow<strong>in</strong>g process with chemical fertilisers and elim<strong>in</strong>ate mice and rats with pesticides. Harvest<strong>in</strong>g is done with a sickle; dry<strong>in</strong>g happens on plastic <strong>in</strong> the sun after separat<strong>in</strong>g the gra<strong>in</strong>s from the branches. Thresh<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>rice</strong> can be done with a lisung or with mach<strong>in</strong>es. On average, there is a yield of three to four tonnes of <strong>rice</strong> per hectare, of a lower quality. Lastly, sell<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>rice</strong> can be a problem due to transportation problems caused by remoteness, poor <strong>in</strong>frastructure and high costs. Remarkable but true, many farmers of the non-traditional group have trouble <strong>in</strong> susta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a liv<strong>in</strong>g. They are under pressure to sell the surplus of <strong>rice</strong> because they made <strong>in</strong>vestments <strong>in</strong> the <strong>cultivation</strong> process. Rice is a commodity product <strong>in</strong> the non-traditional system, which creates a form of market competition between farmers. At the same time, they need to cooperate <strong>in</strong> relation to hir<strong>in</strong>g labour and manag<strong>in</strong>g the irrigation systems. This is <strong>in</strong> contrast with the traditional system of the Kasepuhan, where there is less competition between farmers because sell<strong>in</strong>g <strong>rice</strong> is a taboo. Nevertheless, competition can also exist of social status, relat<strong>in</strong>g to the number of hectares of <strong>rice</strong> fields and the amount of harvested tons of <strong>rice</strong>. Non-traditional farmers are active with cultivat<strong>in</strong>g their sawahs year round. This means that the fields have less time to recover compared to the traditional system. Furthermore, there is no time for non-traditional farmers to use their sawahs for fish breed<strong>in</strong>g or for a kitchen garden, which is <strong>in</strong> contrast with Kasepuhan farmers that have a multifunctional sawah system. This implies that the products from the traditional field are more diverse than that of a non-traditional field. Thus, the commodity or non-traditional system does not seem to provide a lot of economic welfare. On the other hand, the traditional system does not imply economic welfare either. The traditional system of the Kasepuhan provides no money, but it does provide certa<strong>in</strong>ty or social welfare. If anyth<strong>in</strong>g goes wrong for a Kasepuhan family – for example a failed harvest – it can always trust on help of the traditional village leader or the overall traditional leader. As bapak Radi stated dur<strong>in</strong>g one of the <strong>in</strong>terviews <strong>in</strong> Ciptagelar: “Participat<strong>in</strong>g with the Kasepuhan traditions and the traditional leader is important because it makes life possible. If you are not will<strong>in</strong>g to participate, it means you have to leave the community. But then it is far more difficult to take care of yourself and your family.” In the past, Abah Anom also used to help non-Kasepuhan families, for example from the village of Cisarua. For reasons that are not clear, he does not help these families anymore. Nevertheless, he still allows them to use the high quality traditional <strong>rice</strong> varieties <strong>in</strong> a non- 67