As far as the data about geological and agricultural conditions might be of importance to give us a better insight into the local conditions and possibilities of nutrition and with that into the development of malnutrition in the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta, we have put them in a survey in the following paragraphs.
A number of data have been derived from the literature in question. We distinguish in the region four structural units, viz.:
Volcano Merapi, the northern section of the area;
The alluvial plain on the southern slope of this volcano, which reaches almost as far as the Indian Ocean coast;
The west Progo Mountains and the hills of Sentolo in the western part;
The southern Mountains, consisting of a number of mountain ranges, situated around the central Wonosari basin. As we have discussed all data about the nutrition difficulties and the agricultural data concerning the region of Gunung Kidul in chapter XI, this region remains outside further discussion.
Volcano Merapi.
Across the whole length or the island of Java there stretches an impressive range of volcanoes. A number of 17 out of these 53 volcanoes have shown signs of activity or even eruptions during the last two centuries. Merapi is one of the most active of these 17. The top of the Merapi, out of which rises almost uninterruptedly a white column of smoke, which is by a clear sky easily visible, is as the “young” and active Merapi distinguished from the “old” Merapi. The latter consists of an old crater-wall, which is situated on the north and east side of the young Merapi, with the concavity to the South-west.
This old crater-wall has caused the by the young Merapi produced magma to flow away mainly in southern direction, that is to say especially into the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta. Since 1909 there has also been a distinct flowing away of the volcanic products into a western direction to the plain of Magelang. As an explanation of these two Merapi-tops which are besides different in the composition of their stone formation, van Bemmelen (1943) has, on the strength of historical and volcano logical arguments, given the following conception: the old Merapi presumably ± 3,300 m high, has been destroyed in 1006 A.D. In a cataclysmic outburst. The once so fertile fields were changed into deserts of volcanic ashes. On the ruins of the old Merapi-cone, somewhat to the West, afterwards at renewed volcanic activity the young Merapi-cone arose, which is now 2,911 m. hight. Merapi, geologically spoken, is still young, it dates from the quarternarty, while the young Merapi-cone even dates from the historical age. The activity of this volcano is great. The quantity of magma produced by the young Merapi during the last 120 years has been estimated at 766 million m3; if since 1006 the production has been of about the same size, then in these 9.5 century 6 km3 of volcanic material would have been thrust out, consisting of a.o. Rocks, volcanic sand and ashes which now cover many areas situated around the volcano.
Since 1806 periods of activity during 1-7 years, appeared to alternate with periods of apparent dormacy during 1-12 years. It is true that Merapi has occasionally brought about death and destruction among those living on its slopes, at the same time through its great production of volcanic ashes it contributed in a high degree to the fertility of the ground on its slopes. A strong rainfall and an intensive tillage of the soil impoverish it. A supply of new minerals, through which the soil can recover itself, is received out of the water which is carried off by a number of rivulets from the slope of the volcano and used for the irrigation of sawahs. But for Merapi the crops would certainly be smaller. The non-volcanic areas in the D.I. Jogjakarta and also in the whole of Indonesia are more thinly inhabited than these volcanic regions. When the non-volcanic areas covered by primeval forests, are put into use for agricultural purposes, their fertility quickly declines. The volcanic grounds however do not show this decline in fertility, or at least much less.
“Without active volcanoes the agricultural future can only mean retrogression” (Mohr).
The alluvial plain.
The level, weakly sloping Merapi-declivity is covered with alluvial deposits almost as far as the Southcoast. The slope is situated between the West Progo mountains in the west and the southern Mountains in the east. This gentle slope, with the volcano Merapi dates from the quarternary, while the mountain ranges of the southern Mountains and of the West-Progo mountains are of tertiary origin.
Seven rivulets flow down from the southern slopes. Kali Krasak, Kenteng and Penggung (Bedog) flow into kali Progo, in which they reach into kali Opak, in which they flow to sea. The importance of these rivulets, which carry off the rain water, lies in their use fullness for the irrigation of the rice-fields. Out of the volcanic material, which varies from enormous rock-fragments to fine sand, the rocks remain on the spot and the fine material is loosened by the heavy rainfall and carried away with the water via the rivulets to the lower parts of the slope and to the plain, where part of it is deposited. How much fine volcanic material may be precipitated through the air as colian ashes, this has quantitatively not the same importance as the deposit of the fine volcanic material through the rivers. The farther we move away from the top, the finer appears the nature of the soil and the higher is the fertility of these fields.
Farthest up to the north, nearest to the top of the volcano we come across a solid and shallow, very gravelly soil, though this soil is not very fit for farming, yet in places where irrigation is possible rice is grown. Further to the south, down the slope, where the topography is somewhat flatter and irrigation possible, in the ketjamatans Tempel, Sleman, and Ngaglik, the ground is free from big boulders and less gravel is found, which increases its usefulness for agriculture. Under this young andisitic sand at a rather small depth a brown, ferruginous slightly permeable bank is found, which is very favourable for the rice culture, because it renders possible the irrigation of the rice-fields on this strongly permeable ground. This ground is considered as a moderately productive soil.
The lowest parts of the slope, in a great part of kabupaten Bantul, are covered with a layer of friable sandy loam, belonging to the best arable grounds of Java. These grounds are excellenty permeable, rich in available plant nutrients and are used mainly for rice culture, and also partly for sugar-cane, the whole region has a good irrigation through the presence of the rivulets. Good rice-crops are produced on these grounds. The coastal plain of the kabupaten Kulon Progo, situated along the Indian Ocean and in the north bordering on the West Progo mountains, is covered by other kinds of soil, especially sandy, clayey and loamy soils, which have been deposited there by the meandering rivers from the West Progo Mountains. They are all fertile regions and are in use for rice-culture, because a good irrigation is possible with the water of kali Progo and kali Glagah which is rich in phosphates and in potassium. The rice-crops are good. Along the coastal plain of Kulon Progo and Bantul the region is shut off on the seaside by a two km. Wide row of dunes constituted of pulvery, dark grey sand, reaching to a height of 200 m. In its chemical qualities this sand is similar to the Merapi ash-sands. Carried away to sea by the Progo and the Opak, the wind has brought it back to the coastal fringe. On this fine sand (0.1-0.5 mm particles) only the Pandanus scrub grows.
West-Progo mountainrange.
This range fills the greater part of the kabupaten Kulon Progo. In the North-South direction it has a length of 32 km. And it has a width of ± 20 km. This mountain complex constitutes part of the South-Seraju Mountains that stretch away almost along the whole length of south Central Java. The central parts of the west Progo Mountains are formed by three old-andesitic extinct volcanoes that are deeply eroded. The oldest volcano Gadjah lies in the middle of the mountain complex, the younger volcano Idjo lies south of the latter, while the youngest of the three volcanoes, Menoreh, forms the northern part of the mountain range. The whole has the shape of a large dome with flat top and steep flanks. The here hilly and there steep region has been stripped of its natural forest almost entirely. The northern part of the mountain range is a moderately productive arable area. On the steep slopes there is a strong erosion and the possibilities for agriculture are scarce or quite absent. On the lower slopes sawahs have been laid out which by their presence control further erosion. The southern part of the range is still less fertile than the northern part. Here the ground has been still more eroded than in the northern part of the range. Large part of the slopes are of no use for agriculture. The rivulets which are filled very irregularly, full after rain, dry when rain is wanting, cannot be used for irrigation because of this. Here maize, cassave and upland-rice is grown.
In some valleys, especially in the northern part of the kabupaten, where irrigation is possible, during the wet season rice is grown generally followed by maize. Chiefly in those regions, where irrigation with Progo-water is possible, which is rich in recent Merapi minerals, the sawahs yield moderately good rice-crops. The West Progo mountains are the area with the greatest yearly rainfall in the D.I. Jogjakarta, viz. 2,500-3,000 mm.
Sentolo-hills.
East and West of the place Sentolo, situated on kali Progo, stretch the undulating and rolling Sentolo-hills. The nature of the kinds of soil (margalitic soils, limestone-soils) and the heavy erosion reduce this region the an unfavourable agricultural area. In the districts north of the place Sentolo practically all ground has been washed away by erosion and agriculture is no longer possible. On other parts where there is still sufficient earth, upland rice, cassave and maize are grown.
Nanggulan.
On the eastern flank of the West Progo mountains, north of the Sentolo-hills, a district is situated which is interesting only geologically. Over an area of 5 by 2 km. A geologically very old layer reaches the surface. This soil, dating from the eoceen (lower Tertiary), is the oldest geological stratum, which in the D.I. Jogjakarta also forms the surface. In this eoceen near Nanggulan for the first time a rich eoceen fauna of the Indo-Pacific region has been found. Some finds bear names derived from this district (Camerina nanggulani, Camerina djokdjokartae).
During the wet season the area is in use for the sawah rice-culture and produces a moderate crop. In the dry-season the land remains fallow.
When we range the data concerning the fertility of the grounds situated in the D.I. Jogjakarta in order of their productivity for agriculture, which is mainly dependent on the kind of soil, irrigability, erosion and topografy, then we get the following figures:
Table XIII – 1.
Proportional division of the arable lands of the D.I. Jogjakarta according to fertility (1958).
In the different kabupatens of the D.I. Jogjakarta the opportunity for rice-growing varies greatly. In the following data from 1-1-1958, noting the percentage of the surface of the kabupatens in use as sawahs and as tegalans (dry fields), these percentage differ widely.
Table XIII – 2.
Survey of the usefulness of the soil of the kabupatens in the D.I. Jogjakarta for rice-growing purposes on January 1, 1958.
Twenty nine percent of the surface of this area is further used as living-premises for the population, while the remaining surface contains woods, roads and such like.
Climate.
The region of the D.I. Jogjakarta has a tropical rain climate up to 1,300 m. the annual rainfall averages 1,500 mm – 3,000 mm. There is a wet west-monsoon, generally from November till April, followed by a dry east-monsoon from June till September.
Fig. 30.
About 5-15% of the total rain falls during the east-monsoon. In the half year of the west-monsoon the rain mostly falls in heavy showers. In the wettest month approximately 20% of the rainfall in that month comes down in a single day. This irregular rainfall is conducive to erosion and makes irrigation necessary for agriculture. At sea-level the mean annual temperature is ± 26.3ºC and decreasing a little with increasing height. Upward from the coastal plain up the slope of the volcano the climate gets a bit cooler wetter and more clouded. In the town of Jogjakarta the mean annual temperature is 25.6ºC. The mean daily variation is more or less constant throughout the year and amounts to 7-9ºC.
Erosion.
Because the fast growing population created an increasing demand of arable land, the whole area of Gunung Kidul and the West Progo Mountains and Sentolo has been dis afforested. As the ground in these mountainous regions is very sensitive to erosion, in consequence of this dis afforestation, the heavy and irregular rainfall with torrential showers and the insufficient soil-conservation measures, here a strong erosion of the soil has taken place, which has in the course of time gradually diminished the possibilities of agriculture and will diminish them still further as long as reafforestation and other measures are not practicable. The soil of the northern part of the West Progo mountains is in a state of moderate erosion. However the erosion is progressive. The soil on the slope of Merapi is not subject to erosion. This ground which is in use mainly for rice-cultivation on sawahs, is protected by this topography in an almost ideal way against erosion and besides is ever again enriched with Merapi-minerals via the irrigation-water.
Fig. 31.
The whole region of the D.I. Jogjakarta – judged according to the principal means of subsistence for the population, to its system of administration and to its history- has a strongly agrarian character. The agrarian situation, as it is now in the D.I. Jogjakarta exists since a short time. Till 1912 in the region of the four principalities, viz. Jogjakarta, Surakarta, Paku Alaman and Mangkunegaran, there existed a mostly feudal administration. The soil was the property of the sultan and the tillers of the ground had the status of dependents of the sultan.
In this connection we do not mention the great significance of the religious ties between sultan and people in this feudally gouverned region, and we limit ourselves to the agrarian conditions in this area before 1912. In the course of the 19th century the sultans had given in apanage parts of the princedom, with the residents living there, to members of his family or other favourites. Herewith the right was given to the apanage-holder to levy tax from the native residents in the shape of agrarian products, labour in forced service and/or money for his own profit. In case the favourite was a relative of the sultan, the apanages were mostly hereditary.
While before 1812 apanages were situated in the whole region of the Sultanate, in 1812 the apanages in Kedu and in 1831 those of Bagelen were abolished and the apangeholders were compensated with an apanage situated within the present boundaries of the D.I. Jogjakarta. The support of the apanageholders and their stewards, most of them relatives, who were seen by the people as the executors of the will of their highly revered sultan, was paid by the population.
Also the fact that the apanageholder in his turn again transferred his rights on payment during a term dfixed by contract to a European estate-cultivator, who cultivated his products on these grounds, meant for the population an serious aggravation of their struggle for existence. This letting of the ground took place mainly in Sleman and Bantul. Another consequence of the apanagesystem was that the desas atrophied to simple housing accommodations. This process began about 1755. Authority was in the hands of the 2-5 stewards of the apanages to which to grounds belonged that were tilled by the desa-people. In 1891 in the area of Jogjakarta an attempt was made to appoint a lurah over the number of stewards concerned, but this had little success. The context of the community in the desa was not very strong in the period of the apanages (1755-1920). In 1912 a radical agrarian reform has been imposed upon the princes in this region by the activities of the East Indian gouvernment. The apanages were taken back by the sultan and the former apanageholders and bekels (stewards) were as much as possible indemnified. An institution of kelurahans followed in the period 1912-1920. The desa-context, which had existed until 1755 and had lost its solidity and vital power through the apanages, evinced a rapid restoration towards living desa-communities. The splitting up of villages into various bekel-jurisdictions, by which this context had been broken, feel away. To these kelurahans, which received their own region, their own administration and their own authority, the desa-grounds were given in use by the sultan by letter of donation. This concerned the area, where the sultan himself levied the landrent, as well as the former apanage regions. The distribution of the village-grounds among the villagers was left to the wisdom and justice of the kelurahan administration. In 1942 there also came an end to the activities of the European agricultural estates (mainly sugar estates) on the grounds situated in this region. These grounds came again at the disposition of the kelurahans and were anew used for the traditional agriculture. This situation has generally been continued up till the present. The right of disposal of the ground in the kelurahan now lies with the desa communities. Subordinate to this right of disposal a number of villagers have great parts of the desa-ground in hereditary use. In the year 1954 the hereditary right of use has been converted into hereditary individual right of possession by decision of the Local People’s Deputy Council of this area of the D.I. Jogjakarta. On these grounds of the desa food-growing is executed by the population almost exclusively to provide for their own wants. In this way Javanese family-farming is specifically organized for self-supply. It is mostly of a limited extent. No more ground is tilled than the farmer wants for the production of food for himself and his family and for negotiating small surpluses in the desa-market to get the required money for the other few necessaries of life. The tilling of the ground is done with the use of only very few mechanical instruments. In places where there are possibilities for irrigation and also a soil favourable for agriculture, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the main product. This is the case in large parts of the kabupaten Sleman and Bantul and the southern part of Kulon Progo. In the dry, non-irrigated sections, where the quality of the ground for agricultural purposes is mostly lower, the cultivation of upland rice, maize, cassave, sweet potatoes (ipomoea batatas), peanuts and soya bean (glycine soya) is most usual, as is the case on the grounds of the kabupaten Gunung Kidul and Kulon Progo North. The five lastmentioned crops are often grown as “secondary crops”, viz. after the harvest of the rice on the dry fields these crops are planted as after-crops. A survey of the spreading of the sawahs and tegalans (non-irrigated fields) is given in table XIII-2 and subjoined diagram Fig. 32.
The sawahs in the area of the kabupaten Gunung Kidul are mainly rain-sawahs, that is, the retained rainwater remains on the sawahs and makes rice-cultivation possible in contrast with the irrigation-sawah. All these agricultural areas have been divided up into some hundreds of thousands of small farms. The average size of these family-farms may be judged in some degree on the basis of the following data. The ground of the kelurahan is for the greater part in individual right of possession while a small part is in use for purposes of general interest, viz. Official fields of the lurah and other members of the desa-government.
Fig. 32.
Table XIII – 3.
Grounds in changing or periodical possession, which were already scarce in pre-war time, do not occur in the D.I. Jogjakarta to day.
In 1952 the last registration of landholders has been held. We have placed these figures beside those of the numbers of householders in table XIII-3.
The average possession in sawah-, tegalan- and compound-area has been included in the table too. The percentage of the householders who have the land in possession is a little too high, because not every householders has been registered as such. The phenomenon, that married children living in with their parents are considered to be a part of the parental family, is a common feature. Because of this the number of registered householders is lower than it is in reality.
Besides a few thousands of landholders, who have their domicile in town, but have ground in possession somewhere outside the town, mostly for the investment of their fortune, have been registered among the landowners of the ketjamatan concerned.
From these data it is evident that there are numerous householders, especially in the fertile rice-cultivation areas, who are still living in the desa and have no landed property. They mostly live in other people’s compound, without having the right to use the fruits of it. This large group of “agriculturers”, who have no ground and yet do get a share of the produced foodstuffs, are for the greater part unemployed, be it disguised or not. They have no hope of ever getting landed property again. It is true that in desa-life it is customary. That a number of villagers take no part in the process of production and yet have a full right to be kept by the others, but as the harvest does not increase proportionally with the number of mouths that have to be fed with it, after some time this entails difficulties.
The average landed property has been given somewhat too large in table XIII-3, as the grounds in use for purposes of general interest (mostly payment-fields) have been included in the total area of the agricultural grounds, whereas these grounds are the possession of the kelurahan and so do not appear in the number of the owners.
Summarizing these data we see that in the agriculture in the D.I. Jogjakarta there is a situation whereby the landowners have landed property which is generally too little to lead an independent peasant’s existence, while in the desa a great number of persons may be considered as belonging to the landless rural proletariat with bad prospects for the future.
This growing-process has evidently arrived at the limit of the available capacity. Agricultural density in the D.I. Jogjakarta and also in the other provinces of the island of Java is high. The circumstance that the greater part of persons with an occupation remained in agriculture while the land under cultivation remained about the same during the period 1940 – 1958 effected in a high agricultural pressure in this region. All the indices which were described by Davis as symptoms of high agricultural pressure are present in this region. The average agricultural holding is small. The rural housing is inadaequate. Rural indebtedness of the peasants is burdensome.
Excess labor is backed up and wasted. The competition for bare sustenance is very grim even in the richest food- growing areas. While only few forests are left. All these circumstances described by Davis and concerning India are all also present in the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta.
Population-pressure on the arable grounds of the desa has been known for a long period in Java, however this was very locally defined. In the period when waste grounds were still to be had in plenty, the population yet lived close together in the desa, where in the life of the village community everybody found what he wanted.
Tied to village, ground and tradition, there was no tendency among the villagers to wander away. Only when population pressure in the desa grew too high and thereby conditions of living worsened, and the requirements of the desa could no longer be satisfied by the crops from the available arable grounds, in the period when there were still waste lands that might be reclaimed, this was a stimulus to lead a part of the desa community to going away and reclaiming waste grounds elsewhere to begin an existence of their own as an independent community.
In the region of the desa, where all the fields formed a continuous whole, there was no opportunity for expansion. It did lead to an always further partition of the ground among the children of the villagers and thus to an ever diminishing average size of these family farmings.
This leaving for the waste grounds is no longer possible. The domain groups (public property) which had not yet been occupied in the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta, in 1936 amounted only to 0.1% of the entire surface of this region. The surface of the agricultural grounds, which in 1930 amounted to: 250,000 H.A. Has increased in 28 years to 272,595 H.A. This increase is mostly an expansion of the dry, non-irrigated and least fertile grounds in this region at the cost of the wooded land. It means an increase of agricultural grounds with almost 9% in these 28 years, while the population has grown with at least 36% in this period. Already during some decennia a disproportion has been growing between the production of foodstuffs and the number of people who must live on them.
The factor of erosion, which has strongly devaluated as agricultural areas many regions, where there are no irrigated field, that is especially Gunung Kidul and North Kulon Progo, while large parts have even been totally lost, does not find expression in these figures, so that the second “increase” of the arable grounds with 9% is more the result of a mathematical calculation than that it means a real amelioration. This process which has been enacted on these arable grounds during the last decennia, while the peasants tried to bring the soil to a maximum production and did not even shrink from excessive cultivation on the dry fields, does not appear from the following figures.
The uncontrolled cutting away of woods without measures for soil-conservation being taken, has done extensive and irreparable damage to a large part of the arable grounds of the D.I. Jogjakarta. About this the yield of the crops speak an explicit language.
The data concerning the size of the crops which were gained on these grounds, were received from the Agricultural Service in Jogjakarta. They have been put together in table XIII-5.
From the figures it is evident that there is reason for serious concern. It is only the production of the rice, that nearly reaches the level of the years before the second world war.
Table XIII – 4.
Survey of the surface of agricultural fields in 1930 and 1958 in the D.I. Jogjakarta.
Table XIII – 5.
Average year-crops of foodplants in the D.I. Jogjakarta during the period 1938-1941 and 1952-1957.
All other important food crops do not reach the prewar level, but almost all of them stay below that level some tens of procents.
From the much reduced production of tuberous plants may a.o. be inferred the strongly increasing erosion in the areas where these crops are grown (Gunung Kidul, North Kulon Progo).
In the period 1930 – 1941 it was possible in Java to promote food agriculture by:
1) Extension of the areas of arable lands
2) Raising the produce of the total year-crops, by raising the number of crops per
year, so that in this way the food production per head of the population per year
remained almost stationary, in spite of the estimated population-increase of ± 1.5%
per year.
The most important factor in this period was, that from the arable fields crops were gathered more than once a year. In the period 1929 – 1938 the increase of the food-production on the sawahs was gained for 20% by extension of the sawahs and for 80% by greater intensity of their occupation.
From about 90% of all irrigated sawah-grounds in 1938 a second crop was gained. This was possible through many improvements of the irrigation system and by its expansion during the thirties, by means of which the possibility of using the sawahs for planting was increased. Of the increase of food-production on the non-irrigated fields 17% may be ascribed to expansion of the fields, but 83% to more intensive use of these dry arable lands.
A greater yield per surface-unit of dry ground cannot be proved in this period. In the period 1930-1941 in the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta no expansion of the sawah-area was effected. In the period after 1940 the irrigation system, the so-called Slokan Mataram, which was fed by Kali Progo with irrigation-water and which ran through the area of Sleman north of the town of Jogjakarta, was extended to Kali Opak, by which a small expansion of the sawah area was gained.
In Central Java and in the district of the D.I. Jogjakarta in 1930-1939 the production of rice per head remained almost constant, the production of maize per head decreased, in the area of the D.I. Jogjakarta a little more than in the province of Central Java. The production per head of root-crops (cassave and sweet potatoes) in creased during this period, viz. in the D.I. Jogjakarta more than in the province of Central Java, The production of peanuts rose slightly. Likewise the production of soya-beans, so that the food production remained stationary. The decline of the maize-production was sufficiently compensated by the rise of the production of soya-beans, peanuts and root-crops.
The present conditions, as far as they may be judged from the above-mentioned data, have grown much more unfavourable than in the last prewar years. The annual crops have waxed evidently smaller then was the case in the pre-war periods, whereas the number of inhabitants in the D.I. Jogjakarta in the period 1940-1955 has increased with 244,000.
Table XIII – 6.
Per capita of the population in the D.I. Jogjakarta was available from own foodplant-crops during the period 1938 – 1941.
The population in the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta has grown too numerous to be fed by the produce of the available arable grounds.
As for the requirements of calories, these were covered by the crops in 1955 for about 50% and as for the protein requirements, these were also covered for the protein requirements, these were also covered for ± 50%, if we suppose the amount to be 1 gram of vegetative protein per kg. bodyweight. The bodyweight in Java amounts to 45 kg. on the average. The amount of calories which we used in the calculation has been derived from the publication Calorie-requirements (F.A.O. 1957). As an average calorie-requirement of a “young” population with a high birth- and death-rate and living in a climate with a mean annual external temperature of 25ºC. While the weight of healthy active adults at an age of 25 years is 50 kg. for men and 40 kg. for women, this publication takes ± 2000 calories per head per day.
The data of the crops should be supplemented with those of the vegetables cultivated in the compounds and of the consumed coconuts from the coconut trees and of the animal food (meat, egg, fish). These data however are not available. They would however only slightly influence the available quantities of protein per head per day. To suffice for the requirements, quantities of food should be imported of about the same extent as now the crops yield, while then should be given preference to foodstuffs rich in protein (rice, soya beans) and if possible to animal food. All this would be valid if the population would not increase in numbers any more. Neither the question: “From where will all these foodstuffs come?”, nor the question: “How is all this to be paid for?” can be answered. Though these questions remain unanswered, the ever increasing population causes the need to rise incessantly. The want of food mounting with the growth of the population which can no longer be covered out of the present crops, is partly supplemented by what is bought outside the D.I. Jogjakarta, in some parts of Central Java. The merchants in cereals and other food-products buy them up in the regions of Central Java. There are 13 big and 27 small firms which deal in foodstuff-agricultural products in Jogjakarta. Rice is bought up in Delanggu (Solo), Muntilan and sometimes in south-Kedu (Kutoardjo). Root-crops are bought up in Wonogiri, Purwodadi, Kudus and also in Banjumas, where also part of the maize and soya-beans are bought up. The quantities of these foodstuffs, which are brought into the market by the free trade in this region, can only be estimated on the basis of some available data about the returns of a number of the dealers. For the year 1958 the estimate of the total returns of the free trade according to the Economical service of the D.I. Jogjakarta is as follows:
- Rice : 12,000 tons
- Root-crops : 10,000 tons
- Soya-beans : 10,000 tons
- Maize : 4,000 tons
- Peanuts : 2,000 tons
From the side of the government also rice is put into the circulation through a limited number of channels. Via the organization Jajasan Urusan Bahan Makanan this rice is assigned to the government-instances of the D.I. Jogjakarta. It concerns exclusively rice imported from abroad.
Annually Indonesia imports large quantities of rice, from Burma, India, Pakistan, Thailand and Indo-China, Italy and U.S.A. The quantities vary according to the circumstances of home supply and availability of foreign exchange and supply in the world-market. In the years 1951-1957 these varied from 127,800 tons in 1955 to 77,900 tons in 1956.
The quantities of rice, that were brought in this way into the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta during the period 1952-1958 amount to a varying quantity from 2,800 tons to 4,180 tons a year.
In 1952: 2,856 tons; 1953: 3,266 tons; 1954: 3,878 tons; 1955: 4,180 tons; 1956: 3,133 tons; 1957: 3,543 tons; 1958: 2,850 tons.
All this imported rice was sold inside the region of the D.I. Jogjakarta at ever rising prices and this naturally benefits mostly the well-to-do members of the population, who have the disposal of sufficient purchasing power.
The possibilities to arrive at an improvement in this disproportion which started in the agricultural sphere, have been studied by a number of agriculturists (since 1950) among whom Tergast. A project for a reorganization of the people’s agriculture in Java, by the execution of which a considerably heightened production of foodstuffs and at the same time a better daily diet for the population became attainable, has been described by Tergast in 1951. the most important changes would consist in the enlargement of the average size of the landed property per family – now amounting to ± 1 H.A. - to 4 a 6 H.A., a reasonably-sized compound being included in this plot. And at the same time a transformation to the mixed agricultural system would be brought about.
By “mixed” agricultural system Tergast understands, that in the farms cattle would be introduced as suppliers of labour force and of organic manure, while the farm itself must be able for the greater part also to feed this cattle. Those are alterations, which can only be brought about by government’s interference. These changes would make possible a real amelioration in the agricultural sphere if they were successful.
To introduce one yoke of labour cattle efficiently into the farm, becomes possible when it has a size of 4-6 H.A. Then also stable-dung becomes available in quantities of 8-10 tons annually, which is about enough to fertilize 2 H.A. Of arable land sufficiently, perhaps complemented with the manure of small cattle (goat, sheep) and poultry.
The waste products are amply sufficient to feed these labour cattle. The introduction of cattle, small cattle and poultry in all the farms will also put animal protein within easy reach for consumption more than this is the case now. A better schooling of the farmers would open the way to more efficient agrarian methods and the use of agricultural implements. (iron plough, weeding machines, and reaping hook, etc.) the introduction of vegetable fertilizers or the use of compost, methods for fighting insects and the causative agents of plant-diseases, could in the long run contribute towards a rise of the production. With a size of the farms of 4-6 H.A. It is better possible to arrive at the execution of intensive change of crops with quickly-growing plants and measures for soil conservation. The greater income of the farmers facilitates the use of fertilizers, of better sowing material and selected planting material. The use of fertilizers popular farming finds very little place in Java up till now.
These imported fertilizers are too expensive for the peasants, who have no capital, and have as a rule enough debts but hardly any savings.
In these circumstances he is not soon willing to risk the little money he has for an indefinite future. An extensive use of fertilizers would come into consideration in Indonesia for large areas in which rice is grown. These larger farms might be run efficiently by two families per farm.
Such a new kind of organisation raises many problems. In the first place that per farm two families are enough to do as a rule all the usual work at the farms of such a size. Because of this 1.5 million families in Java and Madura would have to relinquish agricultural work. But where could they go? Into industrial work? The industrial development proceeds so laboriously, that this seems for the present impossible. Transmigrate? Transmigration with a simultaneous starting of this new type of farms in those transmigrant colonies, such as the method described by Tergast? But the absorption-capacity of the transmigration-organisations does not reach so high, that such a number of families could be transmigrated within a near future. And if all those 1.5 million families could have found a livelihood outside the agricultural sphere, even then the population-increase will prove to be the next problem in this reorganized agriculture.
The ties of the Javanese farmer with his soil, notably with the soil where also his ancestors have lived and worked and whose spirits are presumed to be still present in the neighbourhood, are very tight and to sever those ties will be for so many families a deep cutting process. The struggle for life means often a struggle for land.(Davis).
All the more so as the possession of even a very small or too small a piece of ground still means a security for the peasant in his hard struggle for a meagre existence. This abondoning of the ground means a great deal. He who touches the ground of these farmers, touches their security of existence. It is not by accident that agrarian legislation in Indonesia makes so little progress. It is a very important and vital, but also a very touchy affair, which has not up till the present found a solution. If there should grow a possibility for all these families to be ready to leave the agricultural sphere, then the attractive power of the chances in fishery, trade, handicrafts, small scale industry, capital intensive industry and transmigration must indeed be very strong.
All this is still out of the question. The enlargement of the farms entails that the subsistence-economy will for the greater part be replaced by a money-economy. The foodstuffs which the non-agrarian population need for consumption, must be brought into the market. This new pattern of life will mean a social revolution in the desas. The goddess of the rice, Dewi Sri, is still worshipped by the performing of special rites, for instance the planting of the young rice-plants, which is done by women; and the cutting – also by women – of the ripe rice-blades on by one. To perform the planting and harvesting mechanically would mean consciously to abstain from the worship of Dewi Sri, the goddess who in rural areas is still much honored. (1955. Darmosugito).
If two families can harvest so much foodstuffs that four families can subsista on them, then the chance that many relatives will come to the farmer’s family to share in their food will be great.
The attitude towards labour on Java differs much from that in the European part of the world. On Java labour is considered as a necessary thing for subsistence. If subsistence is made certain for the near future labour becomes superfluous for a while. In Europe even if the livelihood for many years and even longer is already guarenteed this is no reason that the work is interrupted or postponed. On Java the proper part of life starts after labour is finished and one is able to seize the opportunity to enjoy the tranquility and calmness, the being together with chatty talking and with the view over the wide sawah-fields while the children are playing all around.
In fertile regions where it is easy to find a livelihood with moderate effort, life on Java can be enjoyable.
To many people the present living-conditions form a stimulus to work in order to be able to earn a living. If the agrarian organisations should ameliorate living conditions, it is necessary that the possibility for relatives to fall back on members of their “well-to-do” farming family should be removed, lest the effect of an eventual reorganization be taken away by this.
Even, when the results that may be expected from this agricultural reorganization will be realized, this will mean only a temporary solution, only a delay, after which to be confronted with a still greater population-problem than it is now the case. The results which might become a possibility according to the prognosis of Tergast, have been mentioned in table XIII-7.
Table XIII – 7.
Per capita of the population of Java the following daily quantities of calories, protein and fat were or will probably be available from own crops.
The available quantities of calories, protein, fat, obtained from home-crops, have been mentioned for 1934 – ‘38; and 1949 - ‘ 50. The data for the calculation of the available diet after the above described agricultural reorganization according to Tergast are based on experimental data, obtained with the application of organical manure, intensive interchange of crops, the best possible cultivation-technical measures and the fighting of insects and plant-discases. After a successful agricultural reorganization, for 90 million people in Java a satisfactory diet from home-crops would become available. Herewith would then the highest food production be reached that is possible for the agriculture on the grounds of Java. If in the period, in which the agricultural reorganization would be carried out, at the same time simultaneous measures were not taken for the employment of the groups of the population, who no longer can find a livelihood in the agrarian field, then if no changes have taken place in the demografic situation, a more serious situation will have been reached than is the case now. Even the most spectacular increase of the crops on the arable grounds of Java will have little importance for raising the prosperity of the population in Java in the future, if the constant and rapid growth of the Javanese people is going to continue. After the completion of this reorganization it will appear that 90 million people can be fed out of the crops. After that a growing population will begin to live to marginal conditions. A population bigger than the present, but living under similar unsatisfactory circumstances as there are now in Java. Today there are 56.7 million people in the island, living under conditions with deficient food supply. If during the agricultural reorganization at the same time a demografic balance could be reached and the birth-rate would be adapted and controlled in such a way that the size of the population would have become stationary, then such a reorganization would be of a great significance for the future of the population of Java.