La patate douce et l'arachide : transformations d'une agriculture Yali (Irian Jaya, Indonésie)

Abstract

At an altitude of 1000 meter, in an area of mountains still covered by dense forests, the valley of the Heluk river is occupied by the Yali, the fifth most important ethnic group in Irian Jaya. The Yali are practising swidden cultivation of sweet potato, without using slash-and-burn technique. An intensification of agricultural practices can be described, since the Yali differentiate six kinds of gardens, according to the way the soil is prepared. Supposing that certain practices, as mounds, are recently introduced here, adapted to the cultivation of new crops, as groundnuts, we can study the way these new plants and practices are integrated to the technical and social systems of the Yali. The result is that they are not modifying the traditional agricultural cycle, as no increase of the population disturbs the stability of this cycle.