Derek Freeman's examination of Iban agriculture in the late 1940s and early 1950s

(from Wilder and King) 

Freeman carried out fieldwork in the Baleh region of interior Sarawak, Borneo. The basin of the Rejang river in Sarawak was a sparsely populated region mainly comprising primary forest when the Iban began to colonise it from the beginning of the 19th century, and he notes that the Iban had an 'insatiable appetite for fresh areas of virgin forest'. Given this ample supply of primary forest Iban practice was 'to exploit the stored-up fertility of virgin land by extracting from it two or three successive crops, and then move on to fresh fields'. Freeman is critical of this, saying that it is 'an entirely pernicious practiice', tho he recognises that this was in the context of ample supply of primary forest and the perception that it was 'an expendable resource'. It was also a rational use of the land in terms of the available labour supply, because the continuous clearing of virgin forest was very demanding of labour. and successive farming enhanced the chances of securing a good burn, because cleared secondary vegetation required a much shorter drying-out period prior to firing. Virgin land farmed for a second year also produced good yields and was not subject to much weed growth.

Freeman indicates that in these pioneer areas it was usual for each separate Iban family (bilek) to open a farm (umai) of 4-5 acres and the cultivate part of it for two years in succession. In favourable weather conditions virgin areas would yield harvests of 'exceptional abundance' and provide a surplus. The first clearing of land also established individual rights of ownership over it. In addition, the rainforest furnished raw materials for making mats and baskets, for thatching, for roof shingles, lighting and bark-linings. After a period of cultivation the family abandoned the site and moved on to open new land in the general vicinity of the longhouse, returning to the site to re-open it after a fallow period of 11-30 years. Nevertheless, if a family moved out of the district to a new area its rights in secondary forest lapsed and could then be taken up by any members of their kindred who remained behind.

In an extensive system of agriculture it was also necesary to construct subsidiary longhouses (dampa) near to the farms once it became difficult to reach lands which were distant from the main house. These smaller field-houses usually comprised 2-10 families who were farming in the same vicinity. Nevertheless, each bilek was an independent unit of ownership, production and consumption, and it cultivated its own fields, tho at certain stages of the agricultural cycle it would form along with other families small co-ops on the basis of a system of strictly reciprocal labour exchange.

An important feature of the traditional cultivation of hill rice (padi) is that it was also a religious undertaking, and the various stages and practices of agriculture were closely interwoven with ritual and ceremony 'based on an elaborate fertility cult'. The Iban believed that their rice possessed a soul and was watched over by rice spirits, and each family had strains of sacred rice (padi pun) said to be of supernatural origin, which were planted in the central part of the farm and fored the locus of various rutes which were performed to secure a plentiful harvest. The Iban treated their rice with great respect and were constantly vigilant in ensuring that, in both word and deed, they did not annoy or anger the rice spirits. Freeman argued that Iban rate of reaping could have been increased if sickles had been employed but 'such a method is ruled out because of the reverential attitude which the Iban adopt towards their padi': a more vigorous mode of harvesting might scare away rice spirits.

Traditionally, Iban agriculture did not use draught animals or ploughs; instead the dibble stick was used; clearing the forest and undergrowth was accomplished with axe, adze and fire; ash was used as a fertiliser with no artificial application; and reaping was with a small hand-knife (not a scythe).

The stages of shifting cultivation comprised clearing the undergrowth, felling large trees, firing the farm, reburning the remaining debris if the burn is incomplete, dibbling and sowing, weeding, guarding the farms against pests and animals, harvesting, carrying in the rice in baskets, threshing, winnoing, sorting, selecting suitable seed for the following year's sowing, and periodic pounding of rice when needed for eating. There was a relatively well-defined gender division of labour with men primarily reponsible for slashing and felling the forest, dibbling, and carrying in the rice, and the women for sowing, weeding, reaping, selecting seed, and processing and storing the rice, tho in certain operations like harvesting and weeding, this was not a hard-and-fast division. Freeman indicates that a family might possess up to 15 different varietiesof rice, so that the farm was arranged 'in a predetermined order' to facilitate harvesting and to ensure that there was no interruption in the path of the reapers so that the souls of the rice could follow and did not get lost.

The Iban also cultivate a range of catch-crops which were interspersed with the rice on the farm; some were sown in the same dibble hole as the rice; these secondary crops included mustard, cucumber, pumpkin, gourd, cassava, maize, chilli and pineapples.

Freeman demonstrates that the shifting cultivation of hill rice at that time was 'a highly uncertain undertaking', given the uncertainties of rainfall and temperture and the incidence of attacks by insects and animals, tho he points out that in Iban eyes these hazards were 'very largely the result of magical and supernatural forces'. Variations in yields between families and between different fields were also substantial. However, the introduction of rubber cultivation provided an important subsidiary source of income and served 'as a valuable safeguard against rice shortages'.