K

etut “Tomblos” Subaima is a dedicated farmer unwilling to give up his inherited rice fields in Sanur to the myriad investors who aggressively prey for land in the famous resort area.

“My parents and all my ancestors were farmers. I love being a farmer although the harvests are sometimes poor,” Tomblos said.

He inherited a fertile 5,000 square-meter rice field, now ringed by luxury hotels, villas and restaurants. Land in Sanur now costs around Rp 200 million (US$23,000) per 100 square meters, a fortune for Tomblos and the other farmers who earn around Rp 10 million ($1,100) per year from their harvests.

Farmers face a difficult life in Sanur. They have to make the tough choice of selling off their land for huge onetime profits or maintain their farming tradition.

“Most farmers here have already sold their fields and are now working in hotels, restaurants and villas to make ends meet. Some of them became poor because they no longer had land,” Tomblos added.

Investors are competing to get land in here, he said, but they never considered that they would ruining traditional farming ways by acquiring fertile rice fields.

“They only think about building hotels,” he said.

Made Sutama, a farmer from Peguyangan village in East Denpasar, admitted that farming was a risky job for Denpasar residents.

“The cost of farming is high, while at the same time harvests are unpredictable, and depend on the weather and on market demand. Our harvests often fail because of weather and insects,” he said.

Sutama said he farmed only as a part-time job. “It’s more of a hobby and my obligation to preserving my parents’ legacy.”

Denpasar Agriculture Agency head Gde Ambara said the local administration launched a program to help local farmers by introducing organic farming systems.

“We also provide them with organic fertilizer, training on the usage of applicable farming technology to boost their harvests and encourage farmers to keep their land.”

Ambara said Denpasar had a limited areas of fertile farmland measuring 5,085 hectares with an annual production of 31,678 tons of rice. A one-hectare rice field can produce 10 tons of rice at each harvest.

“We are now developing an urban farming system using smaller plots of land in the city to empower
locals to work in the agriculture sector,” he said.

Denpasar municipality spokesman I Made Erwin Suryadharma said the administration provided several incentives to local farmers. In addition to fertilizer and seed subsidies, the local government also helped farmers by subsidizing land and property taxes.

“Innovation, technology and marketing are closely linked to encourage the growth of the city’s agricultural sector,” he said.