Page 383 - Ranah Studi Agraria: Penguasaan Tanah dan Hubungan Agraris

Ranah Studi Agraria

have cash in hand; the two less common forms involving pay-
ment after harvest (kontrak and setoran) are found only in
Jatisari and Kebanggan, and then only between kin (Gunawan
Wiradi and Makali 1984).

For those with ready cash, another opportunity to ex-
pand control of land is through mortgage (gadai), which al-
though banned in a regulation of 1960 is found in five villages
(Table 7.6, columns 7-8). In this case the owner in need of
cash receives more than in a fixed-rent transaction and often
continues to work as a share tenant on the same land, continu-
ing to bear the risk of cultivation (which perhaps explains its
relative frequency in Sentul and Wanarata); on the other hand,
the difficulties encountered in repayment often mean that
gadai is the first step towards eventual loss of ownership rights.
In some cases, small owners in need of cash (for investment,
ceremonial expenses, children’s school fees, etc.) are unable
to lease out land because of its low productivity (as in Sentul,
which has the highest gadai rates in our sample) and mortga-
ge is the only choice. In other cases a rental market exists
(Kebanggan, Sukosari) but those needing cash may prefer gadai
because the initial payment is higher and also because they
still have access to a reduced income from their land as share-

croppers or (in Sukosari) by an informal guarantee of wage
employment. Not all gadai transactions, however, involve
hardpressed smallholders and wealthy mortgagors. In Mariuk
and Jatisari, land is commonly released in gadai by relatively
large owners as part of an expansion strategy, sacrificing part
of their land for a number of years in order to purchase more
land with the proceeds and using the income from the newly

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