Even though the Dutch East India Company (VOC) came to Asia for Asian luxury products, in Java, their main drive was a bulk, rice, which was used as the operational cost for its empire in Asia....Show moreEven though the Dutch East India Company (VOC) came to Asia for Asian luxury products, in Java, their main drive was a bulk, rice, which was used as the operational cost for its empire in Asia. After a series of wars in the past century, in 1743, the VOC managed to establish control over the majority of rice producing area in Java. This responsibility oftentimes set the VOC as the ultimate cause of the deteriorating of the once flourishing rice economy of Java. However, the accusation experienced strong challenges from the established studies telling about prosperity in the second half of 18th century Java and VOC’s minimal intervention to the island’s rice economy. This thesis examined the contradiction through an exploration towards VOC’s trading document such as the general ledger, correspondence, and reports. In the end it argues that however thin was VOC’s influence to the system, the impact was devastating for Java’s rice economy. Since 1743, VOC asked for 5000 koyangs rice, which was more than a half of Java’s total surplus from a particular region named pasisir which made only 35% of the total rice producing area in Java. This thesis also argued that in the second half of 18th century, different parts of Java experienced different states of economy. The hinterland, under the ex-Mataram states was prosperous because they did not have to bear the 5000 koyangs annual obligatory delivery, while in pasisir, workload increased without proper compensation. This phenomenon in pasisir led to the rapid growth of population, rapid deforestation for constructing rice field, for a mere stagnant surplus. The obligatory delivery cut a considerable income of the pasisir’s rice farmer, left them with no relaxation on their budget that initially could make room for innovation and technological advancement, which were why, in the 18th century pasisir rice farmer re-practiced frugal extensification as what their ancestor did eight century ago.Show less
This is a study of a colonial economy from an agricultural perspective, focusing on the interaction and conflicts between rice and sugarcane production in Java during the late colonial period. Rice...Show moreThis is a study of a colonial economy from an agricultural perspective, focusing on the interaction and conflicts between rice and sugarcane production in Java during the late colonial period. Rice is the most important staple food, while sugarcane has been the principal cash crop between 1870s and 1920s. Since the natural habitats for two crops are similar in many respects but large-scale intercropping was precluded due to different irrigation practices, rice and sugarcane have been competing for the limited resource of land since the dawn of mass production at the end of the nineteenth century. This thesis attempts to answer whether the proliferation of sugar plantation contributed to the rice shortage in Java, and how the shortfall in rice might influence the distribution and expansion of sugar plantation in the tropical island. Besides the quantitative analysis with agricultural statistics, it also investigates the process of policy-making, in which the colonial government exerted regulatory influence over different interest groups as far as the production of rice and sugar were concerned in the 1910s and 1920s.Show less
