Farming Systems in Swampland Ecosystems: A case study in South Borneo, Indonesia

In Indonesia, agriculture makes a significant contribution to the economy. The sector generates about twenty percent of gross domestic product (GDP), is a major employer, and produces foreign exchange from non-oil exports. However, with increased population pressure, especially in the densely populated island of Java, the area of land for agriculture has decreased and cultivation has been forced to expand to marginal land outside Java. To facilitate expansion, the Indonesian government carried out a long-term transmigration programme, which was intended to distribute people from the crowded inner islands of Java and Bali. In Southern Borneo, some of transmigrants are settled on tidal swampland. Because the characteristics of swampland are different from the agricultural land of Java, an appropriate farming system should be employed to accommodate their unique environmental conditions. This paper aims to assess the existing farming systems of indigenous farmers in South Borneo and to compare these with transmigrant farming systems in two different types of swamplands on the island.