The emergence of abandoned paddy fields in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Abstract

As recently as 1980, 87% of the total gazetted sawah (paddy fields) in Negeri Sembilan were actually planted with rice in the main-season; but the figure dropped to 51% in 1975 and 16% in 1980. The figure registered a modest recovery to 21% in 1985, but the rate of sawah cultivation plunged to a mere 7% in 1990. All the indications are that there will be no substantial recovery of peasant rice cultivation in Negeri Sembilan in the future. The author believes that the younger generation of Negeri Sembilan Malays are by and large not interested in agriculture. The disappearance of community-wide agricultural rituals indicates that rice cultivation in Negeri Sembilan began to lose its cultural significance from the beginning of this century. This process was accompanied by the introduction of cultivated rubber, the single most important cash crop in Negeri Sembilan during the colonial period. The spread of rubber cultivation accentuated the division of labour between men and women. The decline of rice cultivation meant that women became more and more dissociated from rice cultivation. The author discerns notable trends in sawah cultivation by examining annual statistics on the acreage of cultivated sawah areas for the entire state. -from Author