Sustainable Agriculture Project

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Rice Cultivation in Bali

Bali has been producing rice for over 1100 years. Its naturally fertile volcanic soil and abundant water made it one of Indonesia’s most productive areas. Rice cultivation became an integral part of the Bali Hindu religion, and religious rituals evolved to ensure a good harvest and placate Dewi Seri, the rice goddess. These practices continue today.

Bali’s rice terraces are sculpted by hand from steep volcanic slopes. Rice is still grown on small family plots instead of on an industrial scale. Each family cultivates about half a hectare of rice fields, usually divided into several terraces. Rice is grown by land-owners, tenant farmers and sharecroppers in a small scale, labour-intensive way. Plowing may be done with cows or a small mechanical plow but planting, weeding and harvesting are all still done by hand in most areas.

The Subak System

These small, traditional family farms are grouped into ‘subaks’, or community associations which include men from every farm. The subak shares the local water supply, which is carefully engineered to ensure that each rice terrace receives enough water. From antiquity, Balinese rice farmers have worked together in these subak groups to bring water from sometimes distant sources of spring, river or lake. These sophisticated hydraulic engineering systems consist of continuously maintained, hand-built aqueducts, small dams, canals and underground tunnels dug through solid rock. Subaks have existed in Bali since at least 986 AD. (This system is now breaking down in places as water grows more scarce.)

Rice Varieties

Until 1969, the Balinese grew and ate traditional varieties of rice known as Padi Bali. Padi Bali is a generic term which includes at least a dozen different varieties of rice which are usually red, pink or brown in colour, grow to a height of 2 metres and take about 150 days to maturity. The traditional rice was fertilized with natural compost and animal manures.

The ‘Green Revolution’ began in the late 1960s, when food security in Indonesia became a serious issue. The Indonesian government and World Bank introduced a hybrid white rice called IR36 which was designed to mature in 120 days, and all Indonesian farmers were ordered to grow this new crop, which was heavily dependent on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Impact of Chemical Inputs

Initial results were spectacular, as the rice instantly responded to the chemicals (like snorting cocaine, one grower explained to me -- the effect is dramatic, but temporary). Briefly, Indonesia became a leading rice producer and even became self sufficient for a short period after 1984. In 1986 a supra-intensification system was introduced using a limited variety of seeds, and more chemical fertilizers and pesticides. By 1985 over 90% of Bali’s rice land was planted in hybrid rice. (In a few remote pockets, farmers still continued to grow the more flavourful Padi Bali they preferred to eat, becoming seed banks for varieties that would otherwise have disappeared.)

As the use of animal manures and organic composts stopped, so did the slow, continual enrichment of the soil. Rice quality and yield declined as populations grew. Soon farmers began to need more and more chemicals to get the same yield, and the economic returns of growing rice with artificial inputs started to drop. Productivity leveled off, became stagnant and in some places went into decline. It became evident that rice production was failing to keep pace with demand.

The use of chemicals was also upsetting the ecological balance in irrigated rice fields. Biodiversity disappeared. Naturally fertilized rice fields are home to snakes, eels, frogs, fish, dragonflies, freshwater crabs and a regular zoo of insects. All of these animals contributed to the health of soil & water systems which in turn produced high rice yields. But the biomass, no longer held together by the creatures that once lived in the terraces, began to float away with the irrigation water. Within a few decades, the topsoil was gone, along with the protein sources that poor farming families relied on.

Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are widely employed by Balinese farmers who have little understanding of their correct use, application and potential health hazards. Safety equipment is virtually never worn. There is an increasing incidence of cancer and birth defects in agricultural areas which are probably due to excessive exposure to toxic agricultural chemicals, but there is no formal data on this that I am aware of (my information comes from local farmers, healthcare givers and midwives).

Because a single water source is shared by the entire subak, any chemicals or other elements introduced to the water will contaminate all the fields downstream. This means that no one farmer can decide independently to stop using one or more chemicals, because they are an integral part of the irrigation system.

(Note: One large area of Tabanan called Jati Luih has never adopted the use of chemicals and continues to grow Padi Bali to this day.)

Crop Rotation

Traditionally, Balinese rice farmers would alternate each rice crop with peanuts or other legumes to replace depleted nitrogen in the soil, and allow the land to lie fallow between crops. Under the pressure to grow more rice, these practices were dropped. Crop rotation now seldom occurs and the understanding of the importance of crop rotation and nitrogen fixing is being lost. Hybrid rice has been grown continually on much of Bali’s rice land for almost 30 years, and the land has become so exhausted that even large chemical inputs no longer ensure a viable crop in some areas.

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

The conventional cultivation method of growing hybrid rice in Bali is to plant about 10 rice seedlings in a bunch about 20 cm apart, flood the field and treat it with chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

The SRI saves farmers money and increases yield dramatically in several ways. Planting just one seedling 30 cm apart instead of a bunch together allows the plant to grow more strongly. Ten day old seedlings are set out in late afternoon, so the plantlets aren’t stressed by the sun, and planted at an angle so as not to damage the root. The fields are flooded only two days out of seven when the plants are young, encouraging deep, strong roots and saving 80% of the water used in conventional rice cultivation (a serious issue in times of dwindling water supplies). When grown without chemical inputs, the farmer saves the cost of these. Manual weeding once or twice after planting ensures a better crop. If ducks are released into the flooded fields when the plants are two months old, and they take over the weeding, pest control and fertilizing until harvest. Returning to the traditional cycles, the field is then rested and sown in peanuts or other legumes. This cash crop enriches the soil before it’s planted in rice again, and additional income can be earned from the ducks and eggs.

This method saves 90% of the cost of seed. Because it doesn’t have to compete for nutrition and sunlight, a single SRI rice plant can set over 60 (some reports claim 100) grain-bearing shoots (tillars). When correctly practiced, SRI yields at least 100% more rice than conventional rice cultivation, while rehabilitating the soil. Individual rice grains are also heavier. The Indonesian government now endorses the SRI and encourages rice farmers around the country to adopt it.

Chemical-Free Rice Cultivation

Recognizing the damage done to the soil over the past decades by overuse of chemical inputs, the Indonesia Government through the Department of Agriculture in 2005 released an edict announcing that all agriculture in Indonesia should be chemical-free by 2010. Although the Department of Agriculture does not yet have the capacity to deliver widespread training, it is interesting to see this change in direction.

The Current Situation in Bali

There is increasing interest among Bali’s rice farmers in growing traditional varieties of rice without chemicals, as they can see the demand for this product and the higher prices it demands. Organic heritage rice is become a boutique food item in Bali and abroad.

There is also a growing understanding of the health impacts of uncontrolled use of agricultural chemicals. (In one small farming community of 1500 people alone, almost 100 farmers have died in the past few years.)

Training of Trainers

With funds from The Funding Network in England, a pilot Training of Trainers program began in November 2007.

Approximately 30 farmers from 10 different subaks will be trained in the SRI and composting techniques, then will be monitored through seed selection and germination, planting, weeding, pest control and other issues through to harvest. These trainers will then be assessed and, if competent, an expanded program will be proposed.

SRI Training Team - Made Chakra, Wayan Kubu SP. (Dept Agriculture), Made Warsa

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Project Sponsor

Made Chakra is sponsored by The Funding Network.  Funds are now managed on their behalf by Rotary Club of Bali Ubud Sunset.

The Funding Network
F1, 23 Clanricarde Gardens
London W2 4JL
Tel: 020 7243 0667
email: info@thefundingnetwork.org.uk
website: www.thefundingnetwork.org.uk

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Major Links

Rotary Club Involvement

Objectives of Rotary are as follows:

1. Facilitate the transfer of funds from TFN to Chakra Widia as required.
2. Provide TFN with financial summaries, minimum one for the year.
3. Meet Rotary financial requirements in the process:

   a. Allocate funds to budget needs.

   b. Ensure receipts are obtained for each financial transaction.

   c. Require two Club members to endorse all account withdrawals.

   d. Report monthly to the Club’s Board on the financial situation.

   e. Ensure all financial reports and receipts are finally stored with the Club Treasurer for future audit needs.

4. Run parallel pilot study of the project, to observe and assess the effectiveness and sustainability of the program and its officers:
   1. effectiveness measured in terms of quantity and quality of trainers as well as practical application to improved agricultural yields.
   2. sustainability in terms of ability for the project to become self-funding through demand-driven sources of funds.
5. Provide a final report to RCBU Board of Directors on conclusions towards continued program support.

Responsibilities

1. Chakra Widia is responsible for:

1. all technical, logistical, marketing and administrative activities of the program.
2. reporting periodic project outcomes to TFN and Rotary
3. providing project members with field trips (at their own expense) to help them understand and assess the program.

2. TFN is responsible for providing the full funding as agreed.

3. RCBU is responsible for:

1. Managing the flow of funds from TFN to Chakra Widia in accordance with Rotary requirements, including documentation needs.
2. Reporting progress through reports and on the RCBU website.
3. Calling project meetings monthly.

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Project Budget

See the Finance Report in the Summary above for budget and actual expenses for this project.