Page 81 - Ranah Studi Agraria: Penguasaan Tanah dan Hubungan Agraris

Ranah Studi Agraria

than they are by the ani-ani. The use of the sickle has been
somewhat inhibited in the past by the traditional fear of of-
fending the rice goddess. Some say that because the HYV
come from abroad, the goddess is not offended when the sickle

is used on these varieties. More important, possibly, is the
fact that when rice is cut by sickle, it is threshed in the field.
This affects the method of payment for harvesters. When rice
is cut by ani-ani, the entire stalk is bunched in the field; each
harvester chooses a bundle for his share, larger than the other
bundles. When the rice is cut by sickle, however, it is threshed
in the field and carried in sacks to the penebas’ house and the
harvesters are paid there in cash according to the weight of
their harvest. It was only when the penebas began to use
sickles and when the threshed gabah was taken to his home
for division that scales began to be used to weigh out shares
due to the harvesters. The harvesters must also provide their
own sickles, threshing mats, and sacks to carry the rice.
Sickles were first used in one of these villages in 1972 with
the arrival of C4-63 seeds. During a group interview with sev-
eral village leaders, the introduction of this innovation was
discussed. One progressive farmer who is also a penebas saw
the sickle being used several seasons ago in a village 30 km

from his own village. He saw that the owner’s share of the
crop was considerably larger when harvesters used the sickle.
Two seasons ago this penebas began to use sickles for crops
he had bought in his own village but used harvesters from
outside the village first because the local people were not
accustomed to seeing sickles used for cutting rice. Later, when
it was more common, the people in this village were also hired

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