For centuries Balinese rice farmers have successfully engaged in cooperative agricultural practices. This achievement is surprising given unreliable water supplies, major pest challenges and the absence of any centralized control mechanisms (Lansing 2006). Instead of leading to a rapid breakdown of cooperation, ethnographic observations show that upstream farmers coordinate irrigation schedules with downstream farmers to mitigate the threat of crop pests, because simultaneous fallow periods serve as an effective pest control strategy. Thus, upstream farmers have an incentive to cooperate by sharing water with downstream farmers to create localized fallow periods and thereby minimize pest damage. Depending on the ecological links among the various fields, coordinated planting may arise. Crucially, this cooperative behavior emerges from the interactions of farmers at the subak level, mediated through extensive networks of water temples, a striking and well-known feature of the Balinese landscape.
To understand these processes better, watch the following video to see how this story unfolds.
To understand these processes better, watch the following video to see how this story unfolds.
References:
Lansing JS. 2006. Perfect Order: Recognizing Complexity in Bali. Princeton University Press: Princeton.
Lansing JS. 2006. Perfect Order: Recognizing Complexity in Bali. Princeton University Press: Princeton.
