抄録
The natural environments of the Lower Batang Hari were described in the previous paper, where five different regions were identified based on the stratigraphy and geomorphology. This paper describes the agricultural land use in these regions and its historical vicissitudes.
The basic technology involved in the land use derives from various ethnic groups. Shifting cultivation on marshland with the long knife and the dibble are Malay elements. More sedentary exploitation of marshland for coconut gardens was begun by Banjarese about 100 years ago with the excavation of fish-bone networks of drainage canals. The immediate vicinity of the river and the canals was rapidly converted into coconut plantations, while inland plots, where freshwater inundation predominates throughout the year, are planted with rice.
Buginese employ the same method more systematically for enterprise. But, at the same time, Buginese often abandon their settlements. It follows, therefore, that Buginese exploitation leaves only grass and shrub behind.
The land use in the middle reaches is also described. The rice fields in the backswamp, called sawah payo, are planted during the dry season. Dry rice was formerly planted on levees and hills, but since the 1910s, when rubber gardens began to occupy the higher portions, it has shifted to the backswamps. Sawah payo, which features basin irrigation and buffalo trampling as an indispensable part of the tillage, is a creation of the Minangkabau.
The combination of these various elements makes up Malay marsh agriculture, which is disseminated through the coastal swamps in the Malay Archipelago and to more remote coasts.
