Disintegration, Formalisation or Reinvention? Contemplating the Future of Balinese Irrigated Rice Societies

Abstract

Bali's rice production is organised in units called subak with compulsory membership for farmers who grow rice. The future of this highly productive system generating some of the highest yields across Indonesia is under threat. Urbanisation, rural diversification and tourism are encroaching on the immaculately groomed rice terraces, undermining a centuries-old sociocultural institution which, interwoven with kinship, neighbourhood and congregation groups, shapes Balinese society. Nonetheless, rice farming remains a vital source of income for many and rice the most important staple food. This predicament raises questions about the future of farmers' livelihoods, the subak, its cultural heritage and rice production in Bali. The author contemplates possible trajectories by developing three scenarios: (1) disintegration; (2) formalisation; and (3) reinvention. The resulting structured narratives are not forecasts but may encourage discussion of the place and value of the subak and local rice supply in the Balinese economy and society.

Keywords:

• Indonesia
• Irrigated Rice
• Scenario Planning
• Bali
• Subak
• Rural Diversification
• Land Fragmentation
• Cultural Heritage

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on the last chapter of my PhD thesis titled ‘Perseverance in the Face of Change: Resilience Assessment of Balinese Irrigated Rice Cultivation’ completed in 2012 at the Australian National University (Lorenzen 2012). Special thanks to Dik Roth, Lene Pedersen and the anonymous reviewers who gave insightful comments to earlier versions of this paper.

Notes

[1] Note that many are part-time farmers who have other paid work. How these farmers manage their time and labour and the impact on the subak is discussed in Lorenzen and Lorenzen (2010).

[2] Field research was carried out between 2004 and 2005 with ongoing and frequent follow-up visits.

[3] Between 1971 and 2013, agriculture's GRDP and workforce share declined by around 50 per cent to 16 and 24 per cent respectively (Bendesa & Sukarsa 1980, 32–33; BPS Bali 2014b, c). Meanwhile, the trade, hotel and restaurant industry's GRDP share rose to 30 per cent and its workforce to 28 per cent in 2013 (Bendesa & Sukarsa 1980, 32–33; BPS Bali 2014b, c).

[4] The exodus of the young can also be seen in the average age of farmers. In the early 1970s, Birkelbach (1973, 156) recorded an average age of thirty years, while in 2005, farmers in my research site were on average fifty-five years old.

[5] Badung, the most densely populated regency of Bali where most tourism facilities are located, has lost half of its rice fields in the past sixty years (Daroesman 1973, 33; BPS Bali 2014d). In my research site, reduction in total rice field area was around 20 per cent between 1990 and 2005.

[6] The low quality of the irrigation infrastructure and problems with waste disposal into the canal system are a frequent news item across Bali: see, for example, ‘Sampah Plastik Meningkat, Desa Adat Bersiasat’, April 20, 2011, accessed March 29, 2014 at http://www.balebengong.net/kabar-anyar/2011/04/20/sampah-plastik-meningkat-desa-adat-bersiasat.html; ‘Perbaikan Irigasi di Jembong Tunggu Bantuan BPBN’, October 10, 2011, accessed March 29, 2014 at http://www.balipost.co.id/mediadetail.php?module=detailberita&kid=2&id=57403.

[7] A detailed labour study in my research site clearly showed that, where water supply to fields was limited, farmers spent significantly more time managing irrigation to their fields (Lorenzen 2012, 223–225).

[8] Unfortunately, implementation of the green zone regulation is hampered by continued violations (Lorenzen 2012, 240–241).

[9] Ostrom is one of a few natural resource researchers who, in a recent publication (Ostrom 2014), contemplates a more sustainable future proposing a set of institutional conditions and processes with regards to better and more productive natural resource management outcomes.

[10] Non-farm work is defined here as work outside agriculture, while off-farm work is work away from the farmer's own farm, either non-farm work or paid farm work on another farm as agricultural day labourer, for example, transplanting, weeding or harvesting other farmers’ rice fields.

[11] Many Balinese farmers sharecrop their fields. Although many have cultivated another person's field for years, the sharecropping arrangements are loose contracts which can potentially be discontinued after every harvest.

[12] See, for example, Green Globe (http://www.greenglobe.com).

[13] Subak never engage in the actual process of marketing, as previously noted by Geertz (1972, 29). In fact, subak rules only concern matters of irrigation, rituals and administration (see also MacRae & Arthawiguna 2011).

[14] The environmental scientists referred to here are part of the Resilience Alliance, which consists of a wide network of researchers and practitioners who collaborate to explore the dynamics of social-ecological systems (http://www.resalliance.org/). My doctoral research was based on their theories. Anthropologists who have examined the future are for example Textor (1995), Mead (2005) and Razak (2000).