Striving for Prosperity in Swamp Land

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

A farmer examines a rice field on May 2, 2019 in the swamplands of Jejangkit, Barito Kuala Regency, South Kalimantan. Rice seedlings have not yet been planted in the field, which still contains water at an average depth of 1 meter due to high rainfall.

It was overcast when Hadrun, 35, checked on the rice seeds he had sown on Thursday (2/5/2019). His rice field one meter deep in water.

As rain began to fall, the farmer in Jejangkit, Barito Kuala, South Kalimantan, hurriedly left his rice field. “The water is still deep; it’s still three [hand] spans deep. I need to wait for it [to recede] to one span deep and then I can [move my paddy to the rice field],” he said.

The rice seeds Hadrun sowed are of the local variety siam karang dukuh. It can grow 30 centimeters high in 1.5 months. Hadrun should have been able to move it to his rice field, which was one hectare in area and had already been cleared.

“It’s always raining and I can\'t be sure of when I can [move the paddy to the rice field]. Water controls everything. If it recedes quickly, I can work quickly. If it recedes slowly, I\'ll have to delay my work. At this rate, I fear I won\'t be able to work until after Lebaran,” he said.

Hadrun was not the only farmer who was overwhelmed by the inundation. Farmers Barak, 35, and Muhid, 27, were also clueless about to do. Their rice fields remained idle as the water was too deep.

Barak’s rice field was green with weeds. Last year, the field was green with paddy stalks. During the World Food Day commemoration in Jejangkit in mid-October 2018, the local paddy-harvesting ceremony was held on his land.

“I’ve pumped the water out several times, but the water level remains high due to rain,” Barak said.

Barak’s rice field ended up becoming a popular fishing site for sepat (white carp), pepuyu (climbing perch) and haruanor gabus (striped snakehead fish). “During rainy seasons like this, we can\'t sow rice. In the end, we just fish,” he said, laughing over his fate of having to cultivate rice in swampland during the rainy season.

Jejangkit is one of the centers for swamp and tidal agriculture in South Kalimantan. The provincial government has allocated 4,000 hectares of swampland for integrated and sustainable agriculture. Optimizing the use of swamp and tidal agricultural land is hoped to help Indonesia become a global food barn by 2045.

Water management

Barak said water was the main problem in swamp agriculture during the rainy season. Abundant water makes it difficult to work on swampland. Even in May, the swamps are inundated with rainwater. In past

years, farmers could start planting rice in March and harvest it in July. A local paddy variety is planted. Productivity is 2.5 to 3 tons of dried unhusked rice per hectare.

Wijaya Kusuma Farming Association head Sodikun said the use of pumps to drain water from the rice fields to tertiary channels was not optimal despite two or three pumps being used for each hectare of rice field. “Water management must be improved. Canal barriers must be built,” he said.

With proper canal barriers and pumps, Sodikun said there would no problem in growing rice on swampland. “Planting twice a year is not impossible,” he said.

South Kalimantan Crops and Horticulture Agency head Syamsir Rahman said swampland in Jejangkit would be cultivated sustainably. This year, 990 hectares of land will be cultivated through an agricultural mechanization. “We’ll start planting in June,” he said.

Developing research

South Kalimantan Farmers Association (HKTI) head M RifqinizamyKarsayuda said numerous trials in using swamp and tidal land for agriculture had been done, both by farmers and through government intervention. The results were poor.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Farmers operate a pump on May 2, 2019 to drain water from a rice field in the swamplands of Jejangkit in Barito Kuala regency, South Kalimantan. The volume of water in the rice field must be reduced before the seedlings can be planted.

No proper formula has been found to make swampland good for productive agriculture. Furthermore, swamps are prone to fire in the dry season and flooding in the rainy season.

“We have pushed for government regulations and policies for farmers working in swampland agriculture. There needs to be research and development on appropriate uses of swampland, suitable agricultural commodities, cultivation process and risk mitigation,” Rifqinizamy said.

During one of several work visits to South Kalimantan, Agriculture Minister AndiAmranSulaiman projected that the province would become a national food barn outside Java. South Kalimantan has 500,000 hectares of potential swampland. The ministry has introduced the “Save the Swamps, Make Farmers Prosperous” program in the province.

“With the program, farmers can enjoy a sixfold profit as their yields increase from two tons to six tons per hectare. The planting period can be cut significantly from 25 days to just three hours. It is fully mechanized. Swampland can be used for crops, horticulture, fishery and farming,” Amran said, optimistically.

Rifqinizamy said the program would only work with research and development. However, he said the government was more focused on campaigns rather than research and development. This leads to apathy among farmers. “There can be great harvests on swamplands, but this is only possible for farmers to achieve through costly engineering,” he said.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Farmers operate a pump on May 2, 2019 to drain water from a rice field in Jejangkit, Barito Kuala regency, South Kalimantan. Swampland rice cultivation faces constraints from high rainfall, with planting delayed by rice fields that still hold 1 meter of water, even in May.

HKTI South Kalimantan has urged universities to conduct research and prove that swamps can indeed be used as agricultural land. If this is true, the real-world impact will be extraordinary as 60 percent of the agricultural land in Kalimantan is swampland.