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.