Farming becomes a thing of the past in Bali

Farming becomes a thing of the past in Bali

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Traditional Balinese farmers are losing
their fields amid the onslaught of development.

IB Adnyana Manuaba, a cultural expert and tourist activities
observer, said Bali lost more than 1,000 hectares of precious
ricefields in the last 20 years to make way for the development
of tourist resorts including hotels, restaurants, residential
complexes, road construction and other tourist and business
facilities.

The projects mostly affected ricefields and plantations in
urban areas, especially those in the provincial capital of
Denpasar and Badung regency.

Dozens of farmers' organizations dealing with irrigation --
locally known as Subak -- only have their names and their "pura
bedugul" (temples) where the goddess Sri was praised and honored.

In Tabanan regency, most ricefields lack water, while in city
areas like Denpasar there are no more ricefields.

Secretary of the Denpasar municipal administration Nengah
Sepud revealed around 5,694 hectares (45.92 percent) were the
site of buildings and facilities, with 6,704 hectares left.

Development projects in Denpasar reach about 2.6 percent
annually, meaning the city's open spaces will eventually be
affected by the projects.

It would be difficult to halt development activities in
Denpasar and its adjacent areas which have been designated as a
business and tourist city.

History

The Subak is the centuries-old irrigation system adopted by
the Balinese farmers since 1071 and written in a historical
manuscript, the Bebetin.

The manuscript tells that the system was developed by an
agricultural expert from the ancient Balinese kingdom. According
to data from Subak Museum in Tabanan, there are more than 1,300
Subak organizations in Bali taking care of around 100,000
hectares of ricefields.

The island has abundant water sources from several lakes, such
as Tamblingan, Buyan, Beratan and Batur. The water from the four
major lakes was irrigated to ricefields in eight regencies in
Bali.

Balinese farmers still faithfully adopt the Subak system and
maintain its organization. The system is closely related to
religious activities.

In each of the four lakes, farmers and the community built
holy temples to glorify the divine spirit and the gods which,
they believed, have bestowed much water and prosperity on the
people.

The biggest temples were built on the main water sources of
lakes called the ulun danu, which functioned as a place to hold
annual rituals. Other temples were erected on the river streams,
called the Ulun Empelan temples, on ricefields (pura ulun suwi)
and the bedugul temple, the smallest and the last temple.

Based on the Subak system, water from the lakes must be
distributed evenly to all ricefields in the respective areas.

Members of the Subak organization regulated water distribution
through small channels to every member's property. The water
channel was only divided by banana trunks so that every farmer
would gain similar amounts of water.

The introduction of the modern irrigation system has more or
less disturbed the traditional and more environmentally friendly
Subak system.

The modern irrigation system has created a lot of friction
between the local government and the farmers. The system requires
strong concrete channel construction to distribute the water to
the ricefields

A farmer in Tabanan, Nyoman Pestika, explained that the
concrete construction was destroyed by many farmers to allow the
Subak system.

"The distribution of water was so unfair. Some farmers got
plenty of water for their ricefields, the other ricefields were
dry," Nyoman said.

The government also recently introduced The Association of
Farmers which regulates the use of water in their areas.

"What is the use of setting up such an association? We have
already established Subak system," complained heads of Subak
organizations in Jati Luwih and other villages in Tabanan
regency.

In addition to the government, traditional Balinese farmers
face serious threats from private investors.

A number of private companies have plans to acquire hectares
of ricefields and vegetable fields to make way for various
development projects.

A large-scale investor, for instance, plans to buy 300
hectares around Batulumbung-Soka holy temple near Jatiluwih
village in Tabanan.

"At first that investor wanted to develop agribusiness but
later planned to build a golf course," said a farmer.

With the rapid development projects, Balinese farmers face a
bleak future.

"What will happen to our precious properties? The government
and the private investors always think of development projects
and ignore the fate of farmers and the island's precious
ricefields," complained a farmer.