Rice cultivation is the backbone of Bali’s strict communal society.Traditionally,each family makes just enough to satisfy their own needs and offers to the gods,and perhaps a little to sell at market.The island’s most popular deity is Dewi Sri, goddess of agriculture,fertility and success,and every stages of cultivation encompasses rituals to intone gratitude and prevent a poor crop,bad weather,pollution or theft by mice and birds.
The complexities of tilling and irrigating terraces in mountainous terrain requires that all villagers share the work and responsibility.Under a centuries-old system,the four mountain lakes and criss-crossing rivers irrigate fields via a network of canals,dams,bamboo pipes and tunnels honed through rock.more than 1200 subak associations oversee this democratic supply of water,and every farmer must belong to his local subak,which in turn is the foundation of the powerful banjar of each village.the Balinese also introduced the subak system into western Lombok in the 1700s.For more on the life of rice farmers..
Although Bali’s civil make-up has changed with tourism from a mostly Homogenous island of farmers to a heterogenous population with diverse activities and lifestyles,the collective responsibility rooted in rice farming continues to dictate the moral code behind daily life,even in the urban centres.Every married male belongs to their Banjar , a local division of a village,which oversees religious,political and economic decisions,and neighbours gladly work together on tasks such a house renovations.
The complexities of tilling and irrigating terraces in mountainous terrain requires that all villagers share the work and responsibility.Under a centuries-old system,the four mountain lakes and criss-crossing rivers irrigate fields via a network of canals,dams,bamboo pipes and tunnels honed through rock.more than 1200 subak associations oversee this democratic supply of water,and every farmer must belong to his local subak,which in turn is the foundation of the powerful banjar of each village.the Balinese also introduced the subak system into western Lombok in the 1700s.For more on the life of rice farmers..
Although Bali’s civil make-up has changed with tourism from a mostly Homogenous island of farmers to a heterogenous population with diverse activities and lifestyles,the collective responsibility rooted in rice farming continues to dictate the moral code behind daily life,even in the urban centres.Every married male belongs to their Banjar , a local division of a village,which oversees religious,political and economic decisions,and neighbours gladly work together on tasks such a house renovations.
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