Land Use and Crop Diversity in Two Iban Communities, Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 97: 98–110, 1997. The difference in agricultural strategies of two Iban communities located in the hilly interior and the coastal zone of Sarawak, respectively, is studied through interviews, field measurements, and botanical collections. The diversity of crops and farming environments is very similar in both communities, the main difference being the production of wet rice with high yields in the coastal area. Here, self-sufficiency has been achieved, and with rice as the most important cash crop, intensification of farming practices is not an immediate priority. In the hilly area, rice production is very low and although yield increases may be possible with appropriate farming techniques, self-sufficiency is unrealistic at present. The subsidised cultivation of cash crops supplements the rice production, but failure of cocoa and unstable prices of pepper and rubber illustrate the need for careful monitoring of cash crop schemes. In addition, alternative indigenous cash and subsistence crops represent a largely unexplored potential which may prove essential for the development of remote communities in Sarawak.