Indigenous farmers’ perceptions of problems in the rice field agroecosystems in the upper Baram, Malaysia

Hollaus, Alexander; Schunko, Christoph; Weisshaidinger, Rainer; Bala, Poline; Vogl, Christian R.

doi:10.1186/s13002-022-00511-1

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine

Table 3 Indigenous farmers’ perceived problems, causes, consequences and solutions, as well as associated landscape elements and microzones

From: Indigenous farmers’ perceptions of problems in the rice field agroecosystems in the upper Baram, Malaysia

Problem		Causes	Consequences	Solutions	Landscape elements		Microzones
Problem		Causes	Consequences	Solutions	Problem sources	Problem mitigation	Microzones
*Environmental problems*
Animal problems	Animal attack	Field location	Health risk	Greater awareness
Animal problems	Animal disturbance	Field location Individual divergent planting times	Poor rice plant growth Yield loss	Coordinated planting time Cultivate both types of rice fields Scarecrow Clearings of vegetation around the field Fencing Net Trapping Not planting certain crops Hunting Guarding Draining Hand-picking Pesticides	Fallow land Village Bushland Path infrastructure Primary forest Hill Garden Rice field	Rice field Path infrastructure Village Hut	Broken/lodged rice plant patches No rice plant patches Poor rice plant growth patches
Steep slope in dry rice fields		Land availability	Affect the amount of yield/area Health risk Difficult work Erosion	Avoid steep areas	Hill		Slope differences
Vegetation problems	Falling branches and shade from vegetation	Surrounding vegetation	Poor rice plant growth	Clearing	Fallow land Garden Hill Tree/vegetation patches
Vegetation problems	Weed occurrence	Weed migration Poor soil quality Escape of fire Insufficient water availability Unadjusted water level Uneven levelled field No weeding related to not having time and health Erosion	Poor rice plant growth Weed resistance Poor soil quality Health risk Difficult work	Burning of weeds Avoid weed-dominated areas Synthetic herbicides Weeding by hand, knife or machine Clearings of vegetation around the field Retain water in the field Wait for shade by natural vegetation succession	Bushland Grassland Fallow land Rice field	Fallow land	Poor rice plant growth patches Weed occurrence Water availability differences Water level differences Field level differences
Weather problems	Drought	Late/early planting time Poor season	Poor rice plant growth	Store enough rice for several years
	Hot temperature	Late/early planting time Poor season	Poor rice plant growth Health risk	Rest in shadow		Fallow land Tree/vegetation patches
	Strong wind		Lodging	Drain rice field Make rope to support rice plants			Lodged rice plant patches
	Too much rain	Late/early planting time Poor season	Poor rice plant growth Slippery condition Flooding	Stay at rice field	River
Social problems
Human disturbance		Step on rice plant Fishing	Poor rice plant growth Broken rice plants	Fencing The owner takes fish him/herself	Path infrastructure River Rice field Tree/vegetation patches
Hard to afford and lack of access to paid labour, machinery, farm inputs, tools or irrigation infrastructure		No income/job No support from authorities or NGO	Do not have tools, irrigation infrastructure, farm inputs, machines, paid labour More manual work Smaller rice field Only dry rice field cultivation	Ask others to help in the rice field Neglect tasks in rice field Government supply Gradual expansion of wet rice field NGO supply Go working to earn money	Irrigation infrastructure
Other tasks/jobs besides farming		Need money to support the family Need money to buy farm input or tools or paid labour	Less time for rice field Weed occurrence	Neglect rice field			Weed occurrence
Poor access to rice fields		Poor infrastructure condition Far distance of the field Poor health of the farmer	Difficult to reach Don’t cultivate the land Path in poor condition cannot use vehicle	Borrow land Use land next to path infrastructure or close to the village	Path infrastructure	Path infrastructure Village River
Poor capability of farmers		Poor health or high age of the farmer	Limitations in conducting tasks in the field Stop cultivating dry rice field Difficult to access the rice field	Help from others Paid labour/group work Field close to the village		Village
Taboos		Belief and religion	Sickness if area used	Avoid area	Sociocultural elements
Agricultural technology system problems
Spread of fire		Poor management of burning Weather during burning	Loss of valuable trees Unintentionally burnt area Weed occurrence	Inform neighbours Burning time/method	Garden Tree/vegetation patches
Insufficient water availability		Broken irrigation Infrastructure Lack of irrigation infrastructure Poor irrigation organisation Uneven levelled field Poor weather season Poor soil quality	Poor rice plant growth Only dry rice cultivation Weed occurrence Hard soil quality	Maintain irrigation infrastructure Use excess water from another rice field Abandon field/plot Levelling Buffer strip above field Rice variety adaption Weed management	Grassland Rice field Hill Irrigation infrastructure River	Fallow land Fishpond Rice field River Spring Irrigation infrastructure Valley	Yield differences Poor rice plant growth patches Water level differences Water availability differences Field level differences Slope differences Soil texture differences
Lack of suitable land		Poor land quality Suitable land owned	Limitation in the use of the borrowed field Location of field Only cultivate dry rice field Use poor land quality Land occupation and land conflict	Borrow land Maintain ownership of land Avoid using poor quality land Tolerance to cultivate own field by others	Fallow land Bushland Grassland	Fallow land Valley
Insufficient rice yield		Bad agricultural year		Store enough rice for several years Planting both rice field agroecosystems Help and exchange Buy rice
Poor soil quality		Insufficient water availability Overuse of field Fallow vegetation and length Topographic location of the field Erosion Poor levelling	Poor rice plant growth Less yield Weed occurrence Affect usage frequency Difficult work	Fertiliser application Change the size of the rice field Find suitable soil/shifting Maintain longer fallow period Keep water in the rice field Buffer strip above field Return fertile soil	Fallow land Grassland Bushland Hill Path infrastructure River	Fallow land Primary forest Valley Garden	No rice plant patches Poor rice plant growth patches Yield differences Water availability Field level differences Slope differences Soil colour, hardness, texture differences
Synthetic fertiliser application		Poor soil conditions	Lodging Poor rice grain quality	Avoid application Buffer strip above field Mulching in wet rice field			Lodged rice plant patches Soil quality differences Poor rice plant growth patches
Synthetic pesticide application		Weed occurrence Animal disturbance	Poor rice plant growth No effectiveness Water pollution Health risk Lower selling price	Avoid application Weeding	River Fishpond		Weed occurrence
Unadjusted water level in wet rice fields		Poor water management	Harvest risk of wet grain Difficult work Lodging Drown rice plant Weed occurrence	Blowing water out of rice field before harvest			Lodged rice plant patches Water level differences

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ISSN: 1746-4269

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