Farming is a source of livelihood and cultural identity for the traditional Dayak community in Central Kalimantan. Since this tradition ended, food self-sufficiency has been disrupted.
By
AHMAD ARIF, DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO, ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO
A woman from Sebangau Mulya Village shows her rice harvest which is managed from land without burning, Thursday (6/3/2019). Land Management Without Burning (PLTB) has begun to be mobilized to keep peat better.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The farming tradition that has been practiced for thousands of years by the Dayak people of Central Kalimantan ended because of the prohibition on clearing fields by burning. Not only weakening food security, the cessation of farming also causes a multidimensional crisis in rural areas.
Kompas carried out special coverage to find out more about the local food system in Central Kalimantan, as well as the opportunities and risks of the food estate or food barn project that has been used as a substitute after the prohibition on farming by burning. The results of the coverage were revealed in a series of writings.
The farming tradition that has been practiced for thousands of years by the Dayak people of Central Kalimantan ended because of the prohibition on clearing fields by burning.
In addition to observing and interviewing stakeholders in the field on 15-28 July 2022, a survey was also conducted in three villages where the food barn project was extended to, namely Kalumpang (Manyagai District, Kapuas Regency), Pilang (Jabiren Raya District, Pulang Pisau Regency) and Tewai Baru (Sepang District, Gunung Mas Regency). The conditions in these three villages were compared with Blanti Siam Village, Pindih Batu District, Pulang Pisau, the initiatory and focal point of the food barn project.
The villages of Kalumpang, Pilang and Tewai Baru are inhabited by traditional Dayak Ngaju farmers. Meanwhile, in Blanti Siam, the majority of the population are migrants from Java, who started growing rice in this peat area in 1982.
Source of fire
Iber Djamal (83), a Pilang traditional leader in Pulang Pisau, said that the ban on the traditional methods of clearing fields was implemented after the forest and land fires (karhutla) in 2015.
Iber said traditional farmers were used as scapegoats for forest and land fires. In fact, the initial cause of the widespread forest fires in Central Kalimantan was the destruction of the peat ecosystem after the launching of the 1 million-hectare Peatland Development Project (PPLG) in 1995/1996.
The project made the peat dry. This, according to Iber, was the cause of severe fires in the 1997 dry season. Since then, almost every year there have been fires, including the 2015 forest fire tragedy.
Sanyo, the traditional mantir (elder) of Kalumpang village, said that widespread burning was usually carried out by parties with capital, such as companies that want to control land. Residents also helped extinguish the fire so that it did not burn their rubber plantations.
He said that the burning of fields for farming purposes was not done haphazardly. There are many customary rules that must be met, including making barriers to ensure that fires do not exceed the boundaries of the fields to be cleared.
“Usually, the fields cleared by each family measure around 1.5-2 hectares (ha). We've been practicing this for generations, but it's banned now,” said Sanyo.
Several farmers tried to grow rice without burning. One of them was Norhadi Karben, head of the Taheta Farmers Group in Mantangai, Kapuas. "After the weeds are cleared, they are collected and sprayed with decomposer liquid or DNA4; then, the soil is hoed or loosened," he said.
However, according to Norhadie, the yield of rice harvested by burning is still much greater. Without burning, farmers incur additional costs for lawn mowers, tractors and chainsaws to cut wood. The energy spent is also greater. Due to these difficulties, his farmer group gave up.
FAIZAL ABDUL AZIZ/REKAM NUSANTARA
An aerial image of the situation of a land fire in Talio Hulu Village, Pulang Pisau Regency, Central Kalimantan, Tuesday (12/11/2019).
According to the farmer, who is also the chairman of the Hindu Kaharingan Tewai Baru Council, Rangkap (52), the cessation of farming has also eliminated the Dayak cultural identity. “Farming is an important part of our belief system,” he said.
Suriansyah Murhaini and Achmadi in their study in the journal Heliyon (2021) said that burning weeds before planting was an adaptation of the Dayak community to the Kalimantan environment. Ash and charcoal from the burning fertilize the soil in Kalimantan which is less nutritious.
In the absence of an effective substitute technology for growing rice without burning, eventually many farmers are no longer farming. The head of the Kalumpang Village representative body, Derianto, said that in his village, people no longer work in the fields. Moreover, security forces are aggressively arresting those who are still clearing their fields by burning them.
Food security
Farmer and community leader of Kalumpang Village, Heri Pato (53), said that from the 1 ha field his family worked on before 2015, usually around 200 cans of unhusked dry grain (GKG) were produced. One can is equivalent to 15 kilograms (kg), which means 3 tonnes of GKG are produced every season. “That's enough to feed a family for one year. The rest is sold and for seeds," he said.
However, now Heri has to buy rice to meet his daily food needs. "Now we have to find money for rice," said Heri.
According to Heri, the Dayak farming system was generally mixed and done by all family members. Not only farming fields of rice with various varieties in one field, the farmers also grew various types of vegetables, even fruits. With the cessation of farming, farmers' food sources have also been destroyed.
Based on data from the Central Kalimantan chapter of Statistics Indonesia (BPS), cessation of farming activities reduced the harvested area and rice production in Kapuas, Pulang Pisau and Gunung Mas. The decline also occurred at the provincial level.
Food barn
Meanwhile, the government is currently developing a food estate project in Central Kalimantan. Director of Land Expansion and Protection of the Agriculture Ministry Erwin Noorwibowo explained that the food estate program is implemented by introducing and utilizing technological innovations. This is carried out by prioritizing environmentally friendly practices in cultivation and post-harvest activities.
"Thus, the practice of burning the land to start tillage is no longer employed; instead, agricultural machinery is used," he said in a written interview.
Its implementation, according to him, has a positive impact, especially on the quality of tillage which is better and faster. This allows farmers to take advantage of the growing season in a timely manner.
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