FADING LOCAL WISDOM OF UPLAND RICE VARIETIES INSITU CONSERVATION IN SOUTH BENGKULU REGENCY (Case in Pino Raya Subregency)
Andi Ishak, Emlan Fauzi, Jhon Firison, Miswarti, and Yudi Sastro

Assessment Institute of Agricultural Technology (AIAT) Bengkulu
Jl. Irian km. 6.5 Bengkulu, 38119

Abstract

Upland rice is a useful source of germplasm and is conserved by the community. This paper aims to explain the local wisdom of conservation of local superior varieties of upland rice in the of Pino Raya Subregency, South Bengkulu Regency. Data was collected in March to May 2020 through interviews and field observations. The interview involved 11 key informants using snowball techniques consisting of traditional leaders, agricultural extensions, and farmers. Data analysis descriptively uses the interactive model of Miles and Huberman. The results showed that the local wisdom of insitu conservation of upland rice faded because shifting cultivation was no longer practiced by farmers. This is because the cultivation of upland rice is only limited to new fields of plantation crops, especially immature oil palm where land is difficult to find due to oil palm expansion in Pino Raya since 2002, intensification of lowland rice allows farmers to plant rice twice a year so that the main food source is no longer dependent on upland rice, and the younger generation of farmers is no longer interested in growing upland rice on new oil palm fields because of the increasing number of new jobs in the village due to oil palm expansion, intensification of lowland rice, and village development. At present, only two local varieties of upland rice are still found in Pino Raya Subregency, namely Siung Kancil rice and Abang rice from many varieties of upland rice that were once known to the community. Therefore, it is necessary to conserve exsitu these so that they are not extinct.

Keywords: upland rice; local wisdom; insitu conservation

Topic: AGRO FORESTRY AND BIODIVERSITY