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Discover how the Dayak farming tradition in Landak evolved from upland rice cultivation to oil palm, balancing economic progress with cultural heritage and sustainability.
For generations, the Dayak people of West Kalimantan have practiced a distinctive agricultural tradition deeply intertwined with their culture, spirituality, and relationship with nature.
Across Landak Regency and other Dayak territories, families traditionally cleared small plots on forested hillsides to cultivate upland rice using a system widely known as shifting cultivation.
To outsiders, these farms may appear to be simple rice fields. In reality, they represent a sophisticated way of life that has sustained Dayak communities for centuries.
According to a landmark study by Jenkins and Sacerdoti (1978), one hectare of a traditional Dayak farm produced approximately 900 kilograms of unhusked rice. Rice, however, was only one element of a highly diversified agricultural landscape.
Farmers also cultivated corn, cassava, sweet potatoes, beans, fresh vegetables, medicinal plants, and naturally occurring mushrooms. Along the field boundaries, they planted fruit trees such as durian and jackfruit, which served both as valuable food sources and as living markers of customary land ownership.
Every stage of farming reflected the Dayak philosophy of collective responsibility. Families, relatives, and neighbors worked together under the tradition of gotong royong, clearing land, planting seeds, tending crops, and harvesting side by side.
Once harvests were completed, the fields entered a fallow period that often lasted several years, allowing forests to regenerate naturally and restoring the soil's fertility before cultivation resumed elsewhere. Rather than exhausting the land, this rotational system maintained ecological balance while ensuring long-term agricultural productivity.
The Dayak farm was never merely an economic asset. It was equally a cultural institution and a sacred space. Before opening a new field, customary ceremonies were held to seek permission from nature and honor ancestral spirits. Harvests concluded with begawai, a communal thanksgiving celebration that expressed gratitude for abundance while reinforcing social solidarity.
Music, dance, ritual offerings, and shared meals transformed the harvest into a celebration of both material prosperity and spiritual harmony. These traditions reflected a worldview in which humans were regarded not as masters of nature but as participants in a larger ecological and spiritual order.
The Rise of Oil Palm and a New Rural Economy
Historically, each household managed extensive customary lands that included cultivated fields, regenerating fallow areas, and surrounding forests. Cash income remained relatively modest, generated primarily through small rice surpluses and forest products such as rattan and wild honey. Yet food insecurity was uncommon because families produced most of what they consumed. Their farms supplied rice, vegetables, fruits, and medicinal plants while forests continued to provide additional resources that supported daily life.
Beginning in the 1980s, however, the agricultural landscape of Landak started to change dramatically. The Indonesian government's expansion of oil palm cultivation across West Kalimantan introduced a new economic model through the Nucleus Estate and Smallholder (PIR) program. Large plantation companies partnered with local communities, and over time many customary forests and traditional farms were converted into commercial oil palm estates.
The economic incentives proved difficult to ignore. Traditional upland rice farming generally generated approximately Rp 8–12 million per hectare each season, including associated crops and by-products.
A mature oil palm plantation, by comparison, typically produces 15 to 18 metric tons of fresh fruit bunches annually. At an average price of around Rp 3,000 per kilogram, gross annual revenue can reach approximately Rp 45 million per hectare. Even after deducting expenses for fertilizer, pesticides, and labor, many smallholders continue to earn Rp 18–27 million annually.
For countless Dayak families, regular monthly income from oil palm transformed everyday life. Parents could finance higher education for their children, improve their homes, purchase vehicles, and gain better access to healthcare. Government-supported replanting programs further accelerated this transition by providing financial assistance to replace aging plantations with higher-yielding varieties.
The Costs Beyond Economic Growth
Economic progress, however, has come with significant costs. Land disputes emerged as customary territories were claimed for plantation development, prompting resistance from many Indigenous communities. Vast areas once devoted to rice cultivation, rubber gardens, and customary forests gradually became extensive monoculture plantations.
The consequences extend beyond economics. Traditional farms once guaranteed household food security because families produced a wide variety of crops for their own consumption. Oil palm, however, generates only a single commercial commodity.
Many households that once harvested their own rice and vegetables now depend on local markets for basic food supplies. As a result, fluctuations in global palm oil prices directly affect household livelihoods.
The cultural impact has been equally profound. Collective farming activities have become less common as plantation work increasingly revolves around individual labor and commercial schedules. Rituals associated with traditional agriculture are practiced less frequently, while younger generations often have fewer opportunities to learn customary knowledge from their elders.
Landscapes once characterized by rich biodiversity have increasingly been replaced by monoculture plantations, reducing wildlife habitats and placing greater pressure on soils and water resources when chemical inputs are not carefully managed.
Finding a Balance Between Heritage and Modernity
The story should not be understood as a simple conflict between tradition and modernization. Oil palm has undeniably improved living standards for many families, while traditional Dayak farming continues to demonstrate remarkable strengths in food security, ecological sustainability, and cultural resilience. Rather than choosing one system at the expense of the other, many scholars and community leaders advocate an integrated approach.
Possible solutions include intercropping upland rice and food crops during oil palm replanting cycles, expanding agroforestry systems that combine oil palm with fruit trees and other agricultural products, protecting customary lands through meaningful community participation, and providing incentives for Indigenous communities that conserve forests and ecosystem services.
The evolution of the Dayak farm into oil palm plantations ultimately reflects the broader story of Indonesia's rural transformation. It illustrates the difficult balance between economic opportunity and cultural preservation, between modernization and ancestral wisdom.
Sustainable development cannot be measured solely by financial returns. It must also safeguard the traditions, landscapes, and values that have sustained communities for generations. Otherwise, what disappears is not merely farmland, but the living spirit of a people.
