Bali Tourism News

Bali told to create an agency on `subak’

February 23rd, 2009

Wasti Atmodjo ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar

The Bali provincial administration should create a legal entity to watch over the declining number of subak, a seminar concluded.

A subak is a traditional Balinese irrigation system where a traditional village manages one or two subak units, depending on the size.

In a seminar titled “Revitalizing agriculture values in the development of city farming” at the Bali Museum held by the Denpasar Agriculture Agency on Thursday, experts agreed that the condition of subak in Bali was spiraling out of control.

I Wayan Jelantik, chief of a subak unit in Kesiman district of Denpasar, said subak, as an institution and its function, had greatly dwindled.

He said subak, as an institution, needed a legal entity to control its numbers because farmers had no idea who they could talk to for consultation on managing the subak.

I Wayan Windia, a professor from the Udayana University’s agriculture faculty, agreed, saying subak as a traditional farming system had been abandoned by most residents for other means of living.

He pointed out the example of the water from the rivers in Gianyar, which had been circumvented to supply water reservoirs belonging to hotels. Another example, he said, was the rafting business, which saw businessmen block waterways to create larger river streams in turn blocking water going into the region’s subak.

“This is happening because we fail to defend the importance of subak, dictated by other interests,” he said.

Windia urged the provincial administration to designate land that could only be used for farming.

“And the farmers developing these farms should receive incentives such as tax exemptions, subsidies and financial help in marketing their products,” he said.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Entry Filed under: Bali Tourism News