Ogan-Besemah - Economy



Subsistence and Commercial Activities . Agriculture is the principal economic activity for most people in the area and is based on the three crops of rice, rubber, and coffee. Rice is grown primarily for producer consumption and rarely yields over two tons per acre (low by current Indonesian standards) . Much of the rice land is either in swampland or in highland areas, where it competes with coffee for farmers' time and capital, and can be marketed only with difficulty. Farmers work wet-rice (usually irrigated) plots by hoeing or plowing with oxen or water buffalo. Planting is done by small groups working for wages or by a rotating work group. Harvesting is done by work groups, the farming family, or, increasingly, by a small number of day-wage laborers. Rubber became an important cash crop early in this century, but poor quality and a declining international market led to price declines in the 1970s and 1980s. Rubber tapping in the late 1980s was a low-status and stopgap occupation. Coffee seedlings, long planted as part of a swidden-rice cycle, became the object of full-time activity by some farmers after price rises in the 1970s.


Industrial Arts. People construct fishnets, traps, and weirs, and women in the eastern part of the area may weave ceremonial cloths and embroider them with gold thread. Certain villages specialize in crafts such as woodworking and goldworking.

Trade. Farmers sell coffee and rubber in village markets to local agents. Trade flows through Palembang. Sundries are purchased in shops located in larger villages and towns, owned by local people or by Chinese.

Division of Labor. Most agricultural tasks are performed by people from within a village or, in the case of harvest groups, from a neighboring village. Work groups for planting or harvesting may be mixed-sex or all-male. Plowing and preparing fields for planting are done by men, as are the pruning and harvesting of coffee trees. Trade is a specialized occupation.

Land Tenure. Land is controlled by individuals but is considered to be within the territory of a particular village. It may be sold to other villagers; land sale outside the village is permitted but not frequent. Sharecropping, renting, and mortgaging land are common. Land that has not previously been cropped may be cleared and planted by a village member; he or she then assumes ownership.

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