Arid areas develop own farming system

Arid areas develop own farming system

By Bambang Budi Utomo

Arid areas in eastern Indonesia have long been a problem. How do
the local inhabitants cope with the problem? Here is a story of
their efforts to survive.

JAKARTA (JP): Man is dependent on the natural environment of
his habitat which provides him with food and raw materials for
other needs. Man obtains food to subsist by exploiting his
environment.

From manuscripts and reliefs on temples we know that in
Indonesia man of ancient times made use of the environment in
accordance with natural conditions. Those living in fertile areas
and close to water created irrigated rice fields. They were wise
in dealing with the natural environment and aware that water in
the rice field contained organic matters useful to the soil's
fertility. Water was thus a natural fertilizer. Hence, rice
fields have survived through the ages. The proof is the many
archeological sites located close to today's settlement areas
which are surrounded by rice fields.

What is man's fate if he has to subsist in arid areas such as
those found in the eastern part of Indonesia? How does he adapt
himself to the dry environment with little rainfall?

Arid areas in Indonesia are characterized by a sharp
difference between the dry and the rainy seasons. In general the
dry areas in Indonesia include the eastern part of the country
like Sumbawa, Timor, Roti and Sawu. The majority of the
population living in these areas make a living by farming. It
seems illogical because of the aridity in the areas.

The problems in developing agriculture in arid areas are
mainly physical limitations: climate, topography and soil
condition.

The climate is marked by fluctuations of rainy and dry
seasons. Low and short rainfalls cause long droughts. This type
of region has erratic rainfall because of the uncertainty of the
rainy season. Water distribution is irregular.

Erratic rainfall often creates chaos in agriculture-related
activities, e.g. the land is not ready for tilling, it either
contains too much or too little water or when rain falls dormant
pests spring to life.

Another problem is high water intensity. Brief but heavy rains
will cause erosion. When the rainy season sets in, plants begin
to grow. But the rainy season often comes to an end when the
plants just start to grow. The young plants may then die because
of lack of water.

Topography also plays an important role in agriculture. Rivers
in a land whose topography is marked by a sharp contrast between
high and low areas are jagged, preventing the construction of
irrigation canals or dams for rice fields.

In the eastern part of Indonesia there are no volcanic rocks.
Even if there were, their chemical structures would not contain
the basic elements required by plants.

The low capillarity in most of the soil results in the washing
of the soil elements such as clay, resulting in the slow
absorption of groundwater. The area may also become a run-off
place for water.

Human efforts

Aridity and environmental damage are characteristic of
Indonesia's dry areas. The island of Timor, for example, is a
plateau generally consisting of vast savannas and steppes
interrupted here and there by rows of hills and mountains. From
these mountains many small rivers run cutting the savannas and
steppes. Due to its location which is close to the Australian
continent, Timor is strongly influenced by dry winds blowing at
high speeds from that continent. These dry winds cause a very dry
season with an extreme temperature range between day and night.
When the dry wind season sets in Timor is arid and dusty.
Conversely, in the rainy season wet winds blow from the west and
change the Timor plateau into an area of much rain and rapid
rivers overflowing their borders. In the hilly areas erosion
takes place.

Various strategies are adopted to respond to the situation in
the mountain forests, the low plateaus and the savannas. The
technique of agriculture developed in the hilly and forest areas
is shifting as is the permanent cultivation pattern.

In Timor, for example, two types of land preparation are known
as the Lere rai and the Fila rai. To minimize the effects of a
long drought people choose plants with variable water needs and
different harvest times. The soil condition and the topography
determine the choice.

The Lere rai system is usually applied in forest areas by
cutting trees, planting and shifting. The Fila rai method is more
permanent, involving intensive preparation by cutting undergrowth
and digging holes for planting. This method is not applied to
slopes and sandy soil, it is more effective than Lere rai in
restoring soil humidity in the dry season. Fila rai needs a lot
of labor. The tendency to make terraces on the slopes of
mountains or hills in densely populated areas changes the Lere
rai into the Fila arai system.

In cultivating erratic rainfall areas people have a system of
their own. The system of planting food crops is not to plant
similar types simultaneously. In Timor, the people plant maize
with a cycle of 30, 39, 50 and 65 days. If it suddenly rains or
storms, there are other types that survive.

The savanna land is utilized for herding. The people create
and manage savannas to accommodate game animals and cattle herds.
They burn the savanna once a year. By this method new grass
shoots will grow, thus eliminating other nuisance plants and
preventing the resurgence of forests.

In arid areas people also cultivate the savannas where various
types of palm trees, such as lontar (palmyra palm) on Sawu Island
and gewang on Roti Island, grow. Lontar is a very useful tree.
The flower stem is tapped before the fruit is produced, its water
processed into syrup, turned into brown sugar or made into tuak
(palm wine). From the lontar stem sago is also made for pig
fodder. This feed fattens pigs which then fetch a good price. On
Roti Island one does not eat sago. It is enough to drink the
sugar to gain energy. One lontar tree can last from two to five
months.

The leaves of the gewang tree can be utilized for various
needs such as roofs and walls, umbrellas, baskets, water
containers, musical instruments (sasando), and in-lay material
for boats. The old branches can be used as firewood and coffin
boards.

The utilization of every part of the lontar and gewang trees
shows that the people of Roti and Sawu islands have managed to
survive, even developed their own technological capabilities in
keeping with the environmental adaptation process.

In a similar way, many ethnic groups in the eastern part of
Indonesia have survived the aridity of their land. The
experiences gained in arid areas have led to a wisdom that is
helping to solve the problems of environmental damage.