Indigenous farmers’ perceptions of problems in the rice field agroecosystems in the upper Baram, Malaysia

Abstract

Background Rice field agroecosystems produce food for more than half of the world’s population and deliver important services supporting farmers’ livelihoods. However, traditional rice field agroecosystems are facing a variety of problems, including pests or markets that are hard to access. This research explored indigenous farmers’ perceptions of the problems, their causes and consequences, and the solutions applied to address them in the rice field agroecosystem. Furthermore, the study investigated how indigenous farmers related these problems to the surrounding landscape elements and to microzones in the fields. Methods Data were collected in two villages in the upper Baram, Sarawak using a qualitative approach that included sketch drawings and face-to-face interviews. Forty-three indigenous farmers of the Kenyah, Penan and Sa’ban ethnic groups were interviewed in their rice fields. The sketch drawings were used to identify the perceived landscape elements, while the oral interviews were employed to identify perceived microzones. Furthermore, the interviews elicited the perceived problems in the rice field agroecosystem and their relations to landscape elements and microzones. Results The findings identified a total of nine environmental problems, e.g. animal disturbance, six social problems, e.g. difficult to access farm inputs, and eight agricultural technology system problems, e.g. poor soil quality, with some found to be rooted in complex causes and affecting agricultural productivity. While some problems were perceived at field level, microzones were frequently used as sub-field indicators of the problems. The surrounding landscape elements were perceived as both a source of the problems and as a means of avoiding them. To solve the problems, farmers applied preventive and reactive strategies based on traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge, resulting in a hybridisation of knowledge systems. Conclusions By including environmental, social, agricultural technology system problems and different spatial scales, this research contributes to addressing issues that can be overlooked when focusing on only one dimension of the problems. These results contribute to a better understanding of how indigenous farmers perceive, cope with and adapt to problems in rice field agroecosystems, which is important for landscape management.

A Review: Growing Rice in the Controlled Environments

“…The field surrounding landscape elements, microrelief (differences in field level or slope), soil characteristics, area weed occurrence, water availability, animal attack and human disturbances, poor human disturbances, farmer capability, disaster (fire), agrochemical applications, etc. may all affect the accuracy of the data obtained from rice cultivation for research purposes 72 .…”

Hill Rice (Oryza sativa L.): Exploring the Malaysian Knowledge, Perception and Intention to Purchase

“…Malaysia has had significant challenges due to several factors including issues related to invasive and native pests, water scarcity issues, difficulties in accessing markets, pesticide-related health issues, and farmers' outmigration to find employment. The problems affecting traditional rice farming systems can be seen in different developed and developing countries (Hollaus, Schunko, Weisshaidinger, Bala, & Vogl, 2022). In Sarawak, Malaysia, rice field agroecosystems have been affected by exodus of young labour, loss of knowledge about traditional rice farming, as well as the expansion of plantations, infrastructures, industrial logging activities and tourism (Prasad, Shivay, & Kumar, 2017;Tuong & Bouman, 2003).…”

“…In order to obtain the optimal yield, farmers also consider the degree of slopes when cultivating hill rice. The steep slopes are not recommended to cultivate hill rice (Hollaus et al, 2022). There are many initiative taken by the Malaysian government such as Skim Subsidi Baja dan Racun Padi Bukit/Huma (SBRPB) in 2015, assisted in the form of compound fertilizers, urea fertilizers, and poisons with a maximum arable land area of 4.04 hectares, in order to help hill rice farmers increase and stabilize rice production, while boosting income.…”

Native Paddy Cultivation: Understanding of the Practice and Crop Management among Sarawak’s Farmers

“…They also live in remote areas where accessing agricultural supplies such as fertiliser, pesticides, or other important supplies may be high cost due to long-distance travelling. These issues have sometimes led certain farmers to grow native rice equated to a natural farming system under low chemical inputs (Hollaus et al, 2022).…”