The reversed fortunes of sago and rice, Oryza sativa, in the rainforests of Sarawak, Borneo

Abstract

Domesticated rice, Oryza sativa, is the main carbohydrate staple for most peoples in Sarawak; its dispersal putatively linked to the origins of agriculture and spread of the Neolithic in the region. Currently it is argued that domesticated rice is an introduction from mainland Southeast Asia, following either a sea-borne route into Borneo from the north via Taiwan or west via the mainland sometime during the mid Holocene. The purpose of this paper is to reappraise the model and suggest that while rice might have been introduced during the mid Holocene, it was not successful, and in fact might not have been widely adopted until the historic period. Rice appears to be an illogical crop choice in the rainforests of Borneo; it is difficult to grow, prone to failure and often low-yielding. By contrast, people had access to many other high yielding plants, particularly the sago palms which appear to have been widely cultivated in the recent historic past. As a crop, rice, in a vegecultural world of sago and taro, may not have been adopted to reduce the ’risk’ of going hungry, but because its successful cultivation is inherently ’risky’ and prone to failure, and thus uniquely, was attractive as a playing piece in games of social competition between individuals.