Rice cultivation and its environment in the continental part of Southeast Asia are now quite a familiar theme to the authors since they have been working there for more than a decade (Fukui, 1971 and 1974; Kaida, 1973 and 1974; Kyoto University Team, 1976; Takaya, 1971 and 1974). Except for a short visit to Java in 1973 (Fukui and Hattori, 1974; Matsumoto et al., 1974), both had no opportunity to undertake a field study on rice-growing in the insular part of Southeast Asia until recently. Their study in this part of Southeast Asia started with a two-month field trip to Sarawak by the senior author in 1976 (Kyoto University Team, 1977) followed by the one to Peninsular Malaysia by both lasting 45 days in 1977. This paper is a brief summary of their basic understanding of the rice culture and its environment in West Malaysia.

View full abstract

This summary of discussions is an abbreviated and highly edited version of the actual general discussion that took place after the presentation of papers and during a period set aside for that purpose. The major points of the discussion revolved around such topics as problems of rice-growing in Malaysia, education and rural development, the problems of generalizing and making comparative studies on the basis of limited village studies, and some anthropological observation on Malay family and community structure; which are to be epitomized in the following.

View full abstract

 West Malaysia is divided into seven padi regions : (1) the Kelantan-Trengganu marginal hills, (2) the upper and middle Perak region, (3) the Kelantan-Trengganu alluvial plain, (4) the Kedah marginal plain, (5) the west coastal plain, (6) the Melaka-Negrisembilan-Kuala Lipis zone, and (7) the middle and lower Pahang region.
  The Kelantan-Trengganu marginal hills (1) and the upper and middle Perak region (2) have, besides wet padi, upland padi including that grown by shifting cultivation. The Kelantan-Trengganu alluvial plain (3) is a large wet-padi region, while in the Kedah marginal plain (4) padi is grown only in small mountain valleys. In these two regions the plough is very widely used. The traditional farming of the west coastal plain (5) is characterized by the use of the tajak , or heavy metal blade for land preparation, and double transplanting. The Melaka-Negrisembilan-Kuala Lipis zone (6) is a southern extension of the Kedah marginal plain, made up of a series of small mountain valleys. In this region the changkul , or hoe, is more widely used than the plough. In the middle and lower Pahang region (7), padi fields occupy the small branch-stream valleys of the Pahang river, forming scattered small clusters. The main tools for land preparation are the tajak and the parang , vestiges of the earlier shifting cultivation.
  The plough is used in the Kelantan-Trengganu alluvial plain (3) and the Kedah marginal plain (4) since soil conditions are suited to plough operation in these fluvial plains. The rest of West Malaysia is dominated by swamp, and here the tajak is most suitable for preparing the land for transplanting, since the soil in the swampy lowland is too loose and full of woody debris for plough operation.
  In a wider geographical frame, the plough is said to have been introduced from continental Southeast Asia via the series of fluvial plains along the eastern coast of the Malay peninsula southward to the Kelantan-Trengganu plain; the tajak has been extending from the perhumid part of insular Southeast Asia along the swampy western coast of the peninsula northward to the mouth of the Ganges. Genealogically, padi farming with the plough can be regarded as the traditional wet-padi farming originated in the continental part of Asia, whereas padi farming with the tajak is affinitive to shifting cultivation, although today it is true wet-padi farming.

View full abstract