The Carolina-rijst — Carolina rice — was the higher-yielding rice variety that, on the basis of the brilliant results obtained at [[Buitenzorg|Buitenzorg], was chosen some fifteen or so years before the 1923 brochure of the Atjeh-Instituut for a trial in the sub-afdeeling Tapa’ Toean on the Westkust of Atjèh. The trial — though initially promising (the yield was twice as large as with the native seed-padi) — failed because the new rice variety required new methods of treading and hulling that the Atjèhse farmers did not adopt, and the sympathy for the Carolina-rijst again entirely cooled. The experiment is the principal cautionary example in the Atjeh-Instituut brochure’s prescription of a better rice variety as the first prerequisite of rijstbouw as an export article.
The Buitenzorg Results
The brilliant results obtained at Buitenzorg with Carolina-rijst led, a fifteen or so years before the Atjeh-Instituut brochure of 1923, to the choice of this rice variety for a trial in the sub-afdeeling Tapa’ Toean. A fertile piece of sawah was provided with living water and a Hindustan plough for the tillage. The choice of the Carolina-rijst — based on the Buitenzorg results — was the principal Dutch agricultural experiment in Atjèh in the late 19th or early 20th century.
The Tapa Toean Trial
The Atjèhse interested parties felt little for this more intensive tillage, and shared, from unfamiliarity with the implement, that they could not use the Hindustan plough. Some Javanese forced labourers, well familiar with sawah cultivation, were then assigned to instruct the Atjèhse farmers; but it came down to these Javanese having to do everything alone, even the weeding, so distrustful was the population of this experiment.
But scarcely did the padi begin to ripen, or all distrust had yielded; one was delighted; never had such full ears and such large grains been seen, while the grains of this rice variety were also protected against the birds by sharp spires. The yield was twice as large as in ordinary circumstances with own seed-padi.
The Failure
But after the cutting the complaints began anew. Great difficulties were experienced in the treading of the grains from the ears: in contrast with the Atjèhse rice, the grains released difficultly, and the sharp spires wounded the feet. Also the stamping became troublesome, the hulling took much more time and labour, so that finally the sympathy for the Carolina-rijst again entirely cooled, and instead of, as intended, the next year planting a large surface with the harvested padi, the supply reserved for seed-padi appeared to have been destroyed by mice.
The Lesson
From this recollection it appears, the Atjeh-Instituut brochure concludes, that with the introduction of a new kind of rice one cannot suffice, but that in connection therewith also new methods for the treading and hulling must be introduced. These and other objections exist, however, only to be overcome. The main thing is certainly that the Atjèher has always shown much feeling for rice cultivation.
Significance
The Carolina-rijst is the higher-yielding rice variety whose trial at Tapa Toean on the Westkust of Atjèh — initially promising (twice the yield of the native seed-padi) but ultimately failed (because the new variety required new methods of treading and hulling that the Atjèhse farmers did not adopt) — is the principal cautionary example in the Atjeh-Instituut brochure’s prescription of a better rice variety as the first prerequisite of rijstbouw as an export article. The lesson of the experiment — that with the introduction of a new kind of rice one cannot suffice, but that in connection therewith also new methods for the treading and hulling must be introduced — is one of the principal Dutch agricultural lessons of the post-war period in Atjèh.
See Also
- Rijstbouw
- Tapa Toean
- Buitenzorg
- Westkust
- De Rijkdom van Atjeh (1923)
- Atjehsche Irrigatiedienst
- Pellerijen
- 1923
Source
De Rijkdom van Atjeh, uitgegeven door het Atjeh-Instituut, Amsterdam, 1923. OCR-filename: 20260718_105749_DLP-110-De_rijkdom_van_Atjeh_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, p. 10.