Page 100 - Changing Living Spaces

Haruhisa Asada

Figure 9 Ponds Created in Cultivated Lands

farming and offers higher profits. Households that lose labour due to the
death of husbands or sons sometimes cannot maintain their rice fields
and therefore convert them to ponds. Unlike rice farming, where in-
come is volatile, income from fish farming is stable and relatively high.
In households where sons do not have regular jobs, fathers sometimes
build fish ponds to provide a stable income for their sons who will inher-
it the land.
However, building fish ponds can be difficult and costly for individu-
al farmers. A landowner first turns to a contractor, a Tikedar. During the
rice growing period in the rainy season, Tikedars bring tractors to culti-
vate the farmland for seeding. However, during the dry season, there is
no demand for rice cultivation, so these individuals are usually engaged
in road construction and housing projects. Tikedars use heavy machinery
to excavate the cultivated land. If the landowner wants to keep the exca-
vated soil, he has to bear the cost of excavation. However, if the landown-
er does not need the soil, the contractor can buy it on the spot, so excava-
tion costs often approach zero. In this way, even households with limited
funds can excavate farmland and convert it into a fish pond.

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