Ecosystem Model of Balinese Irrigation

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This award enables the PI, an anthropologist, and his co-PI, an ecologist, to conduct research on the role of Balinese temples in managing complex irrigation systems. The investigators will develop a computer simulation model of irrigation management along two Balinese rivers, using data already collected. The model will relate climate, topography and hydrology to cropping patterns, yield and pest control through the management of irrigation by the water temple networks. Field measurements of paddies in 1986 showed a high rate of community metabolism. Water temples attempt to optimize food production, balancing constraints involving rainfall, ground water, irrigation demands, sunshine and climate, and pest control. The simulation model will define the physical processes relevant to water temple management along two rivers. When the model is developed the researchers will return to Bali to verify and explore its implications with Balinese farmers, temple priests and irrigation engineers. This research is important because it will demonstrate the ecological and agronomic value of a holistic, anthropological approach. The Balinese farmers combine "religion" and "farming" in their lives in a seamless web of behavior. Analyses of the irrigation system which ignore religion have been shown to be incorrect and incomplete; the present analysis will produce a more complete representation of the system.