Indonesia

Rice Cultivation in Indonesia

M. Khoirul Anam, Jumadi, Sutono, Sutoyo

As rice farmers we have decided to cultivate rice using traditional methods to maintain the fertility of the soil, so that it can support food for current and future generations. We are working with Arief and PPLH to achieve this, as much of the traditional knowledge about rice cultivation and the use of rice varieties has been lost.

From 1966 until 1967, the village here had a shortage of food supply and it was difficult to get rice. Then the Government gave some loans specifically for the cultivation of rice and they promised yield increases. They encouraged the use of a different rice called 'hybrid paddy'. It was then we started cultivating using the 'conventional' methods, using hybrid seeds, chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This was effective, initially, but now we are witnessing a decline in the fertility of the soil. For example, many years ago an area of 5000m 2 would yield 2 tonne of rice, but recently they only get about 800kgs of rice.

When we were young, the children living around the cultivation area could survive by eating crickets and other insects in the rice fields. It's still possible to catch many grasshoppers and big crickets, but many species that existed while traditional cultivation practices were used are not so common now. The species of insects dropped after the government introduced conventional agriculture methods that use hybrid seeds, chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

The use of ‘hybrid paddy' has not only resulted in a decrease in the fertility of the soil, it has also made us dependent on the suppliers of the chemicals and seeds. For the companies it's kind of like a ‘sustainable dependency'. With such issues, it is so difficult for farmers today to be self sustainable, especially when you add the difficulties of lot size, competition for arable land and declining yields.

It is difficult to say who is responsible for these changes. Perhaps, all of us are responsible. The government is responsible for enforcing the cultivation methods and the farmers are responsible for not criticizing these methods enough. Who is responsible however, is now less important. Both the government and the farmers must work together to improve the conditions. We think that this change can come from the bottom up, from the grassroots, from groups like our organic collective.