Another about Subak

The word “subak” was originally found in Kediri-East Java a Hindu Kingdom in 14th century and then brought to Bali by the Hinduism when this Kingdom was conquered by the Moslem and kept until nowadays.

Subak is an organization of farmers in an area where rice fields are located to manage water to irrigate their rice fields, includes water supply, and to build a temple.

The temple (=pura in local language) is called Pura Subak. Every month the subak members will come together in the temple to discuss matters concerning the subak, water supply, the harvest and the celebration of the anniversary day of the subak temple. They worship Dewi Sri, the rice Goddess.

Rice Terraces at Jatiluwih

One big dam can be shared by many subaks. The member of subaks depends on how large the water supplies are. The subak regulates the rice planting and the distribution of water needed by the rice field, to maintain the dam and irrigation canals. The good condition of the dam, the canals and the ditches assure the steady flow of the water to the rice fields and that no water will be wasted.

The “ kelian subak” the head of subak who elected by the members in democratic way has to decide which part of subak who plants rice and which part has to plant the other crops such as : corn, potato, soybean etc due to water condition.

Bali has four lakes, they are: Batur, Bratan, Buyan and Tamblingan from where the water flows especially to the south part of the island: Tabanan, Badung, Gianyar, Klungkung, and Bangli regencies. While the north and east part are dry, they are: Buleleng and Karangasem regions. There are thousands of subaks in Bali.

Rice Terraces

One of the tourist attractions in Bali is the rice terrace. The beauty of rice terraces is caused by Subak organization who attracts the members to have terracing from mountain, as high as possible as long as the water is there. On dry soil they plants corns, sweet potatoes, peanuts, beans, and other plants that need not much water. To keep the top soil on its place terraced rice field have artistically carved lines as dikes that enhance the beauty of country side.

Periodically, usually every 5 or 10 years after a good harvest, subak of the district organizes a “ Nusaba Nini” a big celebration or thanks giving that usually lasts for at least three days, takes place in a Pura Bale Agung, a village temple with a large and long “ bale”, a building of wood. They decorate granaries and invite the Goddess of all subak temples and rice Goddess of all farmers to be in Bale Agung and stay there for the duration of the festival. It will be a parade with colorful symbols, dresses and offerings in the village. You can also find a “Subak Museum” located in Tabanan regency. Subak Museum keeps any kind of utensils relationship with activities of farmer in Bali. In this place you can learn how and why the “Subak” organization is very important in Bali.

The Subak

Subak is a balinese traditional agriculture organization.Subak is the name of water management (irrigation) system for paddy fields on Bali island. For Balinese, irrigation is not simply providing water for the plant's roots, but water is used to construct a complex, pulsed artificial ecosystem. Paddy fields in Bali were built around water temples and the allocation of water is made by a priest.

Subak had been described by Clifford Geertz, but it was J. Stephen Lansing who drew attention to the importance of the traditional system. He was studying Balinese temples, focusing on the water temples, whose importance tended to be overlooked by foreigners. In 1987 Lansing worked with Balinese farmers and agriculture officials to develop computer models of the subak, demonstrating its effectiveness. Officials finally acknowledged its importance.

BIMAS

Our interest in trying to find a way to analyze the ecological effects of the traditional management system was stimulated by the crisis in rice production triggered by the advent of the "Green Revolution" in Bali. During the 1950s Indonesia (figure 7.1) was forced to import nearly a million tons of rice each year. The government of Indonesia was thus very receptive to the promise of higher yields from the "Green Revolution" in rice, and in 1967 launched a major program called BIMAS (Bimbingan massal, or "massive guidance") to boost rice production by providing farmers with high-yielding rice seeds and access to fertilizers and pesticides. The new rice varieties grew faster than the native crops, and farmers were encouraged to triple-crop the new rice whenever possible. BIMAS reached pests. in 1971 and by about about 70 percent of the rice terraces in South Bali were planted with Green Revolution rice. At about the same time, the Asian Development Bank began a major irrigation development project in Bali. Rice production increased, but as early as 1974 field-level agricultural officials in Bali were reporting "chaos in water scheduling" and "explosions of rice pests. In 1984 I wrote an unsolicited report to the Asian Development Rank, in which I tried to show how these problems were linked to their disruption of the traditional system of water management.

My report to the bank emphasized the ecological role of water scheduling and pest management by water temples. Before the Green Revolution, Balinese farmers met annually in regional water temples to set cropping patterns, which often involved staggering irrigation schedules from one irrigation system to the next. Ritual ties between water temples emphasized the interdependency of upstream-downstream relationships, and the temples also helped solve quarrels over water rights. With the arrival of the Green Revolution, religious ceremonies continued to be held in the water temples, but farmers were encouraged to plant rice as often as possible and the temples lost control of cropping schedules. Yet these traditional schedules had important effects on both water sharing and pest control. By enabling the farmers to synchronize cropping patterns, the temple networks provided a mechanism to facilitate water sharing, and also enabled the farmers to synchronize harvests and thus create brief fallow periods over large areas, thus reducing rice pest populations by depriving pest populations of their habitat. The success of fallow periods as a pest control technique depended on the extent and duration of the fallow period. Unless all of the fields in a large area were fallow at the same time, pests could simply move from field to field. I urged the Asian Development Bank to consider trying to strengthen (rather than weaken) this traditional system of water temple scheduling as an ecologically sound system of water management. But my advice was formally rejected by the director of irrigation and rural development projects in a memorandum to the vice-president of the bank in 1984:We do not fully share the expressed concerns of Mr. Lansing. Certainly there is a direct relationship between large areas of fallow land for a considerable period and the population of pests. However, pest control programs carried out efficiently and effectively will control the pest population and allow growing of rice year-round if adequate water resources are available as is done, for example, in certain areas of Central and East Java where farmers grow three rice crops per annum. It should be noted, that there is no development without affecting traditional systems or customs. Everybody can criticize and damage a project, but only a few people can overcome those difficult problems and make the project viable.

The Asian Development Bank continued to advocate the use of pesticides rather than synchronized fallow periods as the right way to control pests. Four years later. a study by World Bank officials reported that the use of pesticides had by then "pervasively polluted the island's soil and water resources." Meanwhile, I had become convinced that the water temple system had evolved to optimize the tradeoffs between water sharing and pest control in different regions of Bali. In the traditional farming system, groups of subaks (local irrigator associations) belonging to local water temples adjust cropping patterns cooperatively to achieve fallow periods over sufficiently large areas to minimize dispersal of pests, but coordination of rice planting over too large a scale would create inefficient peaks of water demand. Simulation modeling provided a way to analyze this trade-off, and in so doing gain a deeper insight into the effectiveness of the temple system as a system of ecological management.

Bali Agriculture

AGRICULTURE

Rice Culture: Nourishing Body and Soul

Nature has endowed Bali with ideal conditions for the development of agriculture. The divine volcanoes, still frequently active, provide the soils with great fertility. Copious rainfall and numerous mountain springs supply many areas of the island with ample water year-round. And a long dry season, brought on by the southeasterly monsoon, brings plentiful sunshine for many months of the year. Bali is, as a result, one of the most productive traditional agricultural areas on earth, which has in turn made possible the development of a highly intricate civilization on the island since very early times.

Rice as the staff of life

Wet-rice cultivation is the key to this agricultural bounty. The greatest concentration of irrigated riceflelds is found in southern-central Bali, where water is readily available from spring-fed streams. Here, and in other well-watered areas where wet-rice culture predominates, rice is planted in rotation with so-called palawija cash crops such as soybeans, peanuts, onions, chili peppers and other vegetables. In the drier regions corn, taro, tapioca and beets are cultivated.

Rice is, and has always been, the staff of life for the Balinese. As in other Southeast Asian languages, rice is synonymous here with food and eating. Personified as the “divine nutrition” in the form of the goddess Bhatari Sri, rice is seen by the Balinese to be part of an all-compassing life force of which humans partake.

Rice is also an important social force. The phases of rice cultivation determine the seasonal rhythm of work as well as the division of labor between men and women within the community. Balinese respect for their native rice varieties is expressed in countless myths and in colorful rituals in which the life cycle of the female rice divinity are portrayed — from the planting of the seed to the harvesting of the grain. Rice thus represents “culture” to the Balinese in the dual sense of cultura and cultus — cultivation and worship.

Irrigation cooperatives (subak)

Historical evidence indicates that since the 11th century, all peasants whose fields were fed by the same water course have belonged to a single Subak or irrigation cooperative. This is a traditional institution which regulates the construction and maintenance of waterworks, and the distribution of life-giving water that they supply. Such regulation is essential to efficient wet-rice cultivation on Bali, where water travels through very deep ravines and across countless terraces in its journey from the mountains to the sea.

The subak is responsible for coordinating the planting of seeds and the transplanting of seedlings so as to achieve optimal growing conditions, as well as for organizing ritual offerings and festivals at the subak temple. All members are called upon to participate in these activities, especially at feasts honoring the rice goddess Sri.

Subak cooperatives exist entirely apart from normal Balinese village institutions, and a single village’s ricefields may fall under the jurisdiction of more than one subak, depending on local drainage patterns. The most important technical duties undertaken by the subak are the construction and maintenance of canals, tunnels, aquaducts, dams and water-locks.

Other crops

One often gets the impression that nothing but wet-rice is grown on Bali, because of the unobstructed vistas offered by extensive irrigated riceflelds between villages. This is not so. Out of a total of 563,286 hectares of arable land on Bali, just 108,200 hectares or about 19 percent is irrigated ricefields (sawah). Another 157,209 hectares are non-irrigated dry fields (tega/an) producing one rain-fed crop per year. A further 134,419 hectares are forested lands mostly belonging to the state, and 99,151 hectares are devoted to cash crop gardens (kebun) with tree and bush culture. Compared with the figures for 1980, a gradual decrease in the total area under cultivation may be noted, resulting mainly from population pressures and tourism development. This includes a real estate and building boom in the coastal resort areas and tourist handicraft viliages such as Celuk and Ubud.

Other crops include Balinese coffee, famous the world over for its delicate aroma and still an important export commodity. Lately, the production of cloves, vanilia and tobacco has also stepped up, and in mountainous regions such as Bedugul, new vegetable varieties are under intensive cultivation to supply the tourist trade. Other export commodities include copra and related products of the coconut palm.
For subsistence cultivators, the coconut palm in fact remains, as before, a “tree of life” that can be utilized from the root right up to the tip. It provides building materials (the wood, leaves and leaf ribs), fuel (the leaves and dried husks), kitchen and household items (shells and fibers for utensils), as well as food and ritual objects (vessels, offerings,
plaited objects, food and drink).

The ‘green revolution’

Recent changes in Balinese agricultural practices have brought about fundamental changes in the relationship of the Balinese to their staple crop. Rice production can no longer be expanded by bringing new lands under cultivation. Nor is mechanization a desirable alternative, given the current surplus of labor on the island. For these reasons, the official agricultural policy since the mid1970s has been to improve crop yields on existing fields through biological and chemical means.

The cultivation of new, fast-growing, high- yielding rice varieties, in concert with the application of chemical fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides, lies at the core of the government’s agricultural development program (BIMAS). Further aims are to improve methods of soil utilization and irrigation, and to set up new forms of cooperatives to provide credit and market surplus harvests. Over 80 percent of Bali’s wet-rice fields are now subject to these intensification steps.

Since 1984, Indonesia has been able to meet most of its own rice needs, thus relieving some of the pressures responsible for the original “green revolution.” As a result, an ecologically more meaningful “green evolution” is now possible, and rice varieties better suited to local conditions and better able to find an anchor in the traditional system of faith are being introduced to the island.

Since 1988, many fields now display new altars for Sri, and the hope is that her rice cult — one of the basic elements of Balinese civilization and culture — will remain strong well into the future.

Social and Cultural of Bali

Social and Cultural Bali Province

Bali province has the uniqueness and special characteristic itself. In government order is famous by official government and tradition. The existence of traitional organization is arranged by territory regulation number 3, 2003. About Pakranian villages, In 2005, the number of Pakranian villages are 1432 villages, consist of 3945 Banjar tradition. Beside that there are 276 history sites which is in good take care. The number of community (sekaha) are Bali dancer art, it is about 3738 group, music art or Karawitan 7944 art and group of Pesantian 1765 groups. Social culture life’s Bali people is Based on “Tri Hita Karana” philosophy. It means three cause of prosperity that needs balance and harmony are relationship between himan to God (Parahyangan), Human to Human (Pawongan), and Human to environment (palemahan). People live behavior is based on “karmaphala” philosophy; it is kind of believed that there are cause effect between act and result of the act. A big part of people life is colored by any kind religious or tradition ceremony. So their spiritual life cannot be removed from any kind or ritual ceremony, because of that, every time in some place of Bali is seen of ceremony dish of food or flower ceremony. This ceremony has distant of time as periodically, incidental, and in every day, it makes group of five called Panca Yadnya, consist of Dewa Yadnya, it is ceremony connect with worship to the only God or Ida Sang Hyang Widi Wasa. Rsi Yadnya is ceremony which relation with the religious leader (priest, pamangku and other), Pitra Yadnya, it is ceremony which has relation with ancestors spirit (Ngaben Ceremony, Memukur), Manusa Yadnya Is ceremony which has relation with human (welcome birth, three month, otonan, cut tooth and marriage) and Buta Yadnya, it is ceremony which has relation with keep watch the natural balance ( Mecaru ceremony, Mulang Pekelem). One of other local wisdom is the existence of Subak organization as the organization to arrange about Bali’s traditional irrigation systems which have the characteristic of socio-religious. This organization is consisting of Subak which arrange the weth field agriculture (rise field) and Subak Abian it arrange the dry agriculture (tegalan). In this year, there are 1.312 Subak.

Another Subak Description

Subak is a traditional organization with unique cohesive and coercive binding power at different level of hierarchy. An ethnomethodological approach was employed in an attempt to understand the Balinese subak organization. Regencies of Gianyar and Tabanan were selected as the study area. The objectives of this research are to recognize institutional elements of the subak and to describe the socio-institutional related variables within the organization. The expected outcomes of the activity are: 1) institutional characteristics of the Balinese subak, including technosocial characteristics and management style, 2) cohesion power and pattern of the subak among its members, and 3) logical interpretation of indexical expressions used in relation to subak?s routine operation. For the purpose of this study, collection and analysis of indexical expressions, conversational analysis and observation, and analysis on nonverbal interaction were employed through the implementation of ethnomethodology. This paper describes subak's socio-religious existence, management style and cohesion power highlighting the community?s indexical expressions and their relation with farmer?s actual acts in the respective agro-socio-ecosystems.

Revitalize Agriculture in Bali

Rapid development of tourism and property projects threatens the existence of traditional villages and the centuries-old subak agricultural system the two strong pillars of Balinese society, a professor at Udayana University said. Wayan Windia, a professor of agriculture, expressed his concern over the diminishing roles of subak, a traditional organization of local farmers responsible for the management of rice fields, irrigation and social and religious activities.

The growing need for tourist accommodation and supporting facilities has reduced the island’s rice paddies and plantations. Currently, there are 1,599 subak organizations in Bali, although only 20 percent of them are still active. Many farmers have been forced to give up their land for economic reasons. Many of them have found that agricultural activities no longer support their livelihood.

Every year, Bali sees 800 hectares of productive land transformed into hotels, bali villas and supporting infrastructure.

The present agricultural system promoted by the central and provincial governments has diminished the bargaining power of local farmers. By adopting the subak system, farmers received multiple benefits, the professor said. Subak not only regulates the distribution of water and seeds to its members, but gives farmers strong bargaining power to distribute their harvests and determine the price of their products.

Farmers would not have to worry about the absence of fertilizers or seeds because all members would be responsible for procuring them. “All problems faced by farmers could be solved and discussed by members of the subak organization,” Windia said. “Now, they have to go to the agricultural agency or the public works agency, which are usually slow to respond to farmers’ needs.”

The function of the subak system was halted by the local administration in the early l980s.

The local administration has provided Rp 20 million (US$2,000) per year to support every subak organization, but this has not prevented farmers from selling their land. “The price of fertilizers and seeds were very high, while harvest yields were sold at very low prices,” Windia said. “It was not fair for the government to ask farmers to keep their rice fields when they were too expensive to maintain,” Windia said.

Nyoman Budiana, another agricultural expert, said most farmers now faced water shortages and reduced farming land. “They cannot produce the same amount of harvest because they work on very small plots of land,” Budiana said. Most fertile rice field areas in Badung and Gianyar regencies are now surrounded by buildings that cut off water distribution.

Nyoman Suwirya Patra, head of the Bali Investment Coordinating Board suggested that local administrations invite more investors to work in the agricultural sector. “Bali has a huge agricultural potential that has not been tapped and managed properly,” Patra said. The island produces high quality cacao, salak (snakefruit), seaweed and many other commodities.

Investment plans in Bali are dominated by the property, tourism, textile and garment sectors. There was a total Rp 53 billion of approved investment in Bali in the first quarter of 2009. To attract more investors to the agricultural sector, the office is now launching a promotional campaign, including a website containing information about the various agricultural potential of Bali. The provincial administration has spent Rp 320 million on the campaign.

I Wayan Ramantha, dean of the School of Economics at Udayana University supported the efforts, saying the campaign would enhance the island’s agriculture. “We have to focus on investment in agricultural technology to properly develop this sector. Investment in tourism-related sectors has already matured,” Ramantha said. “A wide gap between the tourism and agricultural sector could create both economic and social problems.”

Subak Museum

Subak Museum

Subak Museum is a museum colleting the Balinese traditional agriculture tools and old documentation to remind all young generation about Subak Organization which has famous in the world. It is located in Sanggulan countryside, Kediri sub district and Tabanan regency precisely 20 Km west part of Denpasar town. This museum is opened for public and to be one of tourist destinations in Tabanan regency, west part of Bali. It is strategically located in Tabanan town and close with other tourist destinations in this regency.

Subak Museum History

Tabanan regency is one of the regencies in Bali own the widest rice field, so that frequently this regency is called by the Rice Barn of Bali Island. Sanggulan countryside has been choose as a place of Subak Museum because considering that Subak Rijasa in this regency that in year 1979 have reached the National Champion in Intensification Program that lifting Bali's name in the national level. Beside of that Tabanan regency owns more Subak Organization if it is compared with other regencies. The development of Subak Museum is inspirited by intention of all Balinese culture lovers. This museum is expected to preserve Subak as a local cultural asset which have meritorious in developing and improving agricultural rice field production, especially rice and traditional irrigation system. This system is very famous in foreign countries because own the similar irrigating system like Fai in Thailand and Zangera in Philippine with the chasm and its specification do not like Subak which is existing in Bali. Subak is wet farm farmer organization to get the water irrigation from the sources.

What to See in Subak Museum ?

Subak Museum is consisted of the closed and opened building. The closed building is consisted of the exhibition stand where we can meet the demonstration of the object related to farmer work, visual audio building narrating the Subak activities in its bearing with the water irrigation management, library and office. Open building is the visualization of Subak demonstration in mini form which is consisted of a pool as relocation place of irrigation, a tunnel to flow the water from pool to the water relocation. The objects and farmer equipments are displayed in the exhibition building is the equipments and object are arranged in a such manner from the equipment for the opening of agriculture farm, making the irrigation items, farm processing, crop conservation, harvesting, making rice and kitchen equipments. It is not different from other museums in Bali that Subak Museum in Sanggulan countryside has the following function:

• As a center of the erudite investigation and documentation
• As a place of science channeling
• Cultural acquaintanceship place
• Medium place to introspect the human being
• Place of mirroring the human being history
• Place to enjoy the art and culture object generally

In tourism effort, this time can be form as a tourist destination, especially for incoming tourist from the big countries like America , Europe, Japan , etc that this museum as a unique place of interest in Bali.