Kenduri Ladang in Aceh Singkil: Environmental Change and Economic Transformation

Abstract

Kenduri Ladang is a tradition carried out by the Singkil community to express gratitude for the rice harvest and ward off bad luck, disasters, and pests. The growth of rice plants in Aceh Singkil is not only a source of income for the community but also a ritual that has become a tradition. The Kenduri Ladang celebration is held twice a year, bringing opom cakes which are then continued with prayers together, and the rest of the opom cakes are spread around the rice fields. However, as time goes by, the Singkel community, which initially planted rice, has now switched to planting oil palms, and indirectly eliminated Kenduri Ladang. This study explains why the Singkel community switched from rice to oil palms, and what impact it has on the disappearance of Kenduri Ladang . This study uses an ethnographic approach, directly observing the field situation in Aceh Singkil which is full of oil palm plants, conducting interviews with community leaders and local residents. This study shows that economic and environmental factors influence people to move from rice to oil palm, the texture of the Aceh Singkil soil which can no longer be planted with rice, and frequent crop failures, make people finally switch to oil palm, this is done after seeing oil palm plants growing well managed by the company. In turn, Kenduri Ladang also disappears because there are no more rice plants.