Subak irrigation system
Subak: riego cooperativo de Bali
- Date
- 882 (primera mención) · confidence medium
- Place
- Jatiluwih, Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia
- Credited to
- Balinese farmers and water temples
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
A system for managing water in terraced rice paddies coordinated by temples, which shares out irrigation turns and sets common planting calendars. It synchronises hundreds of communities and reduces pests and water conflicts.
The Sukawana inscriptions (882) mention canal workers; the term kasuwakan appears in 1072.
What it led to
- terraced rice paddies sustained for a millennium
- a model of commons management studied by ecology
- World Heritage status (2012)