The harmony of Balinese agriculture

The harmony of Balinese agriculture

The role of the rice-field system is deeply rooted in the culture of Balinese people, aside from its extra value for tourism. The Balinese crop system is related with religious, historical and political aspects of the island, making Bali a fascinating agricultural society.

The system used in Bali is known as subak (terrace irrigation system) farming, a term that is almost synonymous with the rice fields themselves: When people speak of subak, they tend to mean the whole rice field instead of referring only to the irrigation system.

Balinese subak farming is organized in terraced landscapes, turning the rice fields into a magnificent spectacle of green-stepped fields that gracefully adorn the slopes of hills and mountains. The magnificent views attract tourists, and the subak landscape is now one of Bali’s iconic images. The most notable subak fields can be found at Jatiluwih and Tegallalang.

Ironically, according to Wayan Windia from Udayana University, tourism is now endangering the continuation of subak farming. The massive tourism development on the island has resulted in a number of rice fields being sold and the land used to build hotels and villas.

“The use of land for non-agricultural purposes is destroying much subak farming, which in turn risks destroying the economy,” Wayan said during a seminar on Bali's agricultural history in Bentara Budaya in February.

The concept of subak is a complex, yet autonomous, system, which the Balinese people have been working for centuries. Subak displays a perfect harmony of how an area of rice fields must be cultivated together in order to fight off pests and so achieve maximum yields.

In a sodden landscape, fields located in uphill areas have an advantage over fields located below them due to the availability of water for irrigation. But, Bali's subak system dictates that the rice fields should be planted simultaneously so as to reduce the chance of all the crops being destroyed by pests.

To achieve synchronized planting, water must be distributed equally between all the fields; this avoids the majority of the water being used for the uphill fields. The management of the water is a religious process – primarily because Balinese people believe that irrigation water is a gift from the Water Goddess, or Dewi Danu.

This unique agricultural system has been carried out by the Balinese since the 11th century, and UNESCO even declared it a World Heritage Site in 2012.

However, Wayan said UNESCO's recognition was doing little to prevent rice fields from being used for non-agricultural purposes. Furthermore, he added, it felt nowadays as though the paddy fields were no longer viewed as an important part of society, but rather as a picturesque backdrop for visiting tourists and the building of luxury villas.

Wayan said he believed the lack of understanding about the importance and significance of subak would change Balinese culture. "We can see how the subak system has influenced society: From encouraging harmony between neighbors through cooperation during the planting phase, and even to the religious community, which manages the irrigation instead of handing authority to kings and rulers," he said.

To combat the decline, Wayan has proposed a number of policies that he believes the government should take, such as shifting tourism development to emphasize eco-tourism, offering tax subsidies to farmers and raising awareness about subak. These are not quick-fix solutions, but they are necessary if Bali is to retain one of the things for which it is best known, and that is being a society in which people live together in harmony, as well as with their gods and nature.