Harvesting knife for rice

Rakkapeng

Note: The following text is taken from a 19th-century collection catalog and, in its language and perspective, partially reflects colonial thought patterns. We present the text in its original version to make the collection's history transparent and promote a critical examination of the colonial legacy. Certain terms and formulations may be perceived as problematic today. A 2009 research project concluded that most descriptions are factually correct and still usable; only a few details were found to be inaccurate or incorrect. The results of this project were published in the following collection catalog: https://khm-wmw-tm-library.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1457155265

"374 - 375. Rice knife - "Rakapang".
The shape of this most peculiar knife which is used to cut rice in all of the Indian archipelago is difficult to describe. On the edge of the underside of a rectangular piece of wood, that is about the size of the palm of one's hand, is a narrow knife of steel about half a cm wide. It is set into the board so that it occupies the entire lower edge of this board. On the upper, slightly convex edge is a 10 cm long bamboo rod that is as thick as a finger which is fastened perpendicularly over it. When cutting the rice stalks the knife is held in the right hand in such a way that the little board fits between the middle and the "gold" fingers, with the bamboo stems lying cross-wise in the hand. The fingers are pulled back a bit and when the cutting is going on, they open and close. Men and women and even small children are able to separate the rice heads from the stalks, which remain standing, while the left hand takes the cut panicles and makes them into a bunch which continues to grow until it can no longer be held in one hand. Then the bunch is bound together with one stem and carried to the collecting place. In the harvest time all the villagers participate in this work; those who do not themselves own a rice field cut for pay which is a tenth of that which is cut that day, while nine tenths must be delivered to the owner. In the whole of the Indian Archipelago it is forbidden, according to old laws, to cut the plant in any other way, except with the little knife described above. Stem for stem. The straw, that is, the plant itself, must remain in the field and is not taken; only the heads with the grains of rice. This old, sacred law which no one in India would dare to break because he would immediately incur the wrath of God has its practical, economical and sensible grounds. Namely, in the whole of the archipelago fertilizing is unknown and so the land would soon become infertile if twice per year, and year for year the whole product of the earth were removed. With the procedure described, however, the greater part of the plant remains standing and only the heads are removed. After the harvest the buffalo of the village, these typical work animals of all the natives, are allowed for a time to graze. After this, during the dry season and before the rainy season begins the whole field is burned and the ash provides the natural fertilizer of the rice fields. At this time the rice fields, burned to the ground, black, covered with ash, look very sad in contrast to the lush green vegetation. But this sight does not last long. Just after the rainy season begins fresh green sprouts begin to appear out of these black fields - the sprouts of the old plants. And if the ground is sufficiently wet, it will be ploughed with the help of a buffalo and a very primitive plough. The natives are rice farmers out of necessity because rice is the most important food for the people.
The time of the harvest, as mentioned already, is the time of festivities; it is the greatest joy for this childish folk. At this time all the villages are empty of people, only old and sick remain behind. Everyone, young and old, is in the fields to do the tedious work of cutting the rice in the burning heat of the tropics. It is a surprising picture, the extensive fertile plains, surrounded by ever green forests and mountains, covered with hundreds, thousands of people, the women covered in great red sarongs, the heads covered with a large straw hat, the men only dressed in short pants but also with a straw hat. And the children without a covering for their heads and in their nakedness. And here at this peaceful work the young man approaches the girl to help her with her work, to pass the time with chatting and joking. Here is often begun that which is continued afterwards at the rice block: the sexes coming together. As evening comes the colorful crews of cutters, loaded with their bundles of rice, return to their villages so as to be ready to return again to their work at daybreak. When the harvest is over, barn and house full with rice, then the time of the rice pounding begins, as described above. Celebrations, meals, marriage feasts follow each other. Worry-free and happy, the native then lives like a child, not thinking of the future but lives only for the day; until the beginning rainy season calls him from the house to the rice field, as described above, to plough. Then thanks to an artificial irrigation system, all of the large fields are watered, inundated. In this time the rice fields are turned into lakes, morasses, from which miasma and contagious material develops in such amounts that in some areas the most terrible fever epidemics break out. The rice grains are planted in a small part of the field close together and the shoots, when they are about 20 cm high, are planted piece by piece, usually in rows; this is really the most tedious and difficult work of the entire rice cultivation. And this is still more unpleasant because the workers stand the whole day stuck in the morass up to their knees, exposed to the hot sun, infecting themselves with malaria and having the possibility to be swept away by it in only a few hours. There are two kinds of rice fields, the wet and the dry. The first are called "sawahs". They are in those parts of the country which can be inundated by an irrigation system or by flowing water; the second kind, the dry ones, "tegals", are so high that they cannot be irrigated by flowing water and they are only watered by the rain. The former fields yield more and better rice than the latter."