Bagi sebagian masyarakat NTT khususnya Pulau Timor terjadi sistem ladang berpindah di masa lalu. Tatkala itu sistem perladangan berpindah merupakan suatu bagian budaya dalam kehidupan komunitas masyarakat di Desa Litamali, Sisi, dan Rainawe. Perladangan dapat diartikan sebagai cara bercocok tanam di atas suatu hamparan areal lahan tertentu terutama di daerah hutan rimba tropik, daerah-daerah sabana tropik dan subtropik. Sistem ladang berpindah adalah sistem perladangan dalam makna usaha yang dilakukan oleh manusia secara berpindah_ Sistem perladangan berpindah merupakan akumulasi dari berbagai pengalaman melalui babak perjalanan waktu yang panjang, sebagai hasil penyaringan internal terhadap dinamika perubahan lingkungan.Semua jenis makhluk hidup, besar atau kecil, buas atau jinak, aktif atau tidak, menghadapi masalah pokok yang sama yakni masalah untuk bertahan hidup. Persoalan bertahan hidup menuntut suatu proses penyesuaian diri dari makhluk hidup terhadap lingkungan tempat hidupnya. Penyesuaian diri itu secara umum disebut adaptasi.Dalam konteks petani ladang, perubahan sistem perladangan berpindah membutuhkan adaptasi dari komunitas petani. Tuntutan adaptasi berkaitan dengan pertambahan jumlah penduduk, meningkatnya kebutuhan akan pangan serta peningkatan produktivitas lahan pada luas lahan yang sama. Oleh karena itu, dibutuhkan teknologi baru pertanian yang sekali lagi menuntut adaptasi petani juga. Contoh adaptasi masyarakat tradisional berburu dan meramu dapat dilihat dalam kehidupan suku Pygme, Bushmen, dan Negrito.Dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, suku Pygme, Bushmen, dan Negrito memperoleh pangan dengan meramu tanaman dan buah-buahan, madu dan hewan kecil.Konsekuensinya: a) gerak tinggal suku ini tidak pernah menetap, selalu mengikuti sumber-sumber persediaan pangan, b) pengetahuan dan teknologi yang dibuat lebih difokuskan pada upaya pemenuhan kebutuhan pangan dan c) perpindahan terjadi ketika persediaan pangan di suatu wilayah tidak mencukupi kebutuhan lagi, sehingga perlu berpindah ke lokasi baru. Perilaku ini juga dimaknai sebagai awal mula adanya upaya adaptasi suatu komunitas masyarakat lokal untuk memenuhi kebutuhan pangannya mengikuti siklus alam sehingga perlu berpindah-pindah. Tuntutan adaptasi terhadap ladang menetap menyebabkan adaptasi dari berbagai komponen kebiasaan sosial, seperti perubahan sistem perladangan berpindah menjadi menetap, interaksi sosial, interaksi dengan alam, pola kegiatan ekonomi lokal dan teknologi tradisional.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh kepadatan penduduk dan potensi lahan serta pengaruh teknologi baru pertanian terhadap adaptasi petani di Desa Litamali, Sisi, dan Rainawe Kabupaten Belu. Penelitian ini diharapkan memberi manfaat bagi penduduk ketiga desa tersebut dengan memanfaatkan ilmu pengetahuan dari lima iingkungan untuk pengembangan pertanian bagi penduduk setempat.Penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif dengan metode survai. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan teknik kuesioner dan wawancara. Penelitian dilakukan sejak bulan Maret - Juni 2003 di tiga (3) desa yaitu Desa Litamali, Sisi, dan Rainawe. Alasan memilih ke-3 desa tersebut secara purposive adalah, a) sistem perladangan berpindah dan ladang menetap masih dilaksanakan secara bersamaan; b) adanya perbedaan topografi yang nyata antar ketiga desa; (1) Desa Litamali terletak di dataran rendah; (2) Desa Sisi terletak di pegunungan; (3) Desa Rainawe terletak di pesisir pantai; dan c) ketiga desa ini mengalami perbedaan tekanan pertambahan penduduk akibat pertumbuhan alamiah dan migrasi masuk penduduk asal Timor Leste. Populasi dalam penelitian ini yakni Kepala Keluarga atau Rumah Tangga (RT) dalam wilayah Desa Litamali, Desa Sisi dan Desa Rainawe. Pengambilan sampel sebesar 10% atau sebanyak 91 KK dengan teknik acak sederhana. Data hasil penelitian, ditabulasi dan dianalisis untuk mengetahui pengaruh kepadatan penduduk terhadap potensi lahan dan pengaruh teknologi pertanian baru terhadap kemampuan petani.Berdasarkan hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa:a) Petani di Desa Litamali mulai melaksanakan sistem perladangan menetap (86%), diikuti petani di Desa Rainawe (64%) sedangkan petani di Desa Sisi (63%) masih menerapkan sistem perladangan berpindah.b) Pengaruh teknologi baru pertanian terhadap adaptasi petani sebesar, 58% di Desa Litamali, 44% di Desa Sisi dan 50% di Rainawe. Konsekuensinya, terjadi perubahan komponen perladangan seperti, interaksi sosial, hubungan dengan alam, pola ekonomi lokal dan teknologi tradisional pertanian.Kesimpulan penelitiannya adalah, (I) sistem perladangan berpindah di Desa Litamali dan Rainawe mulai berubah menuju ladang menetap sedangkan desa Sisi walaupun menunjukkan adanya perubahan, namun petani masih melakukan sistem perladangan berpindah; (2) teknologi baru pertanian mulai digunakan petani dalam kegiatan berladang.Daftar Kepustakaan : 48 (1949-2003).

---

The Subsistence Farmers Adaptation toward Change of Shifting Cultivation System. (A Case Study on the Effects of Modernization on Traditional Agricultural in the Villages of Litamali, Sisi, and Rainawe, in Belu Residence)For some NTT people especially the Timorese, shifting cultivation was past of the culture particularly at the Litamali, Sisi and Rainawe villages. This Cultivation as a fanning mode was practiced in particular areas e.g., in tropical areas, savanas and subtropical areas. The shifting cultivation system is an agricultural effort no a resuet of accumulated experiences through a long journey of time being a human decision after internal selection to the dynamics of environmental changes.

All creatures living in large or small groups, wild or tame, active or non-active, face an the same problems, after for survival. This demands for the ability of adaptation process to each habitat. The adaptation is an in born and continuous process.

In the uninigated agricultural farmers context, the change of shifting cultivation into system a caused an adaptation on the farmers side an of causes of change was the population growth, which increased demand an food needed and this demanding increased land productivity of the same land area. Therefore, the into an intervention agricultural of new technologies needed the farmers adaptation. The example of traditional community adaptation started at the hunting and collecting could system such as be seen in the Pygme, Bushmen, and Negrito tribes. Daily, the Pygme, Bushmen and Negrito tribes obtained their food by collecting plants and fruits, honey and tiny animals. Consequently, a) the dwelling-movement of these tribes continued, always following the food supply sources; b) the knowledge and technology was therefor more focused on fulfilling their food needs and; c) the movement occured when the food supply in a region was short which therefore caused them to move to the other area. This behavior was also explained as the initial presence of adaptation effort of a local community to meet their food demand, by following the cycle of nature which kept them moving. The uninigated agricultural adaptation cause a change to the shifting custom thus changing some social habit components to the related shifting cultivation technique; such as the change in social relations, interaction with nature, local economic activities and the change from traditional to modem technology.

This study aims at to analyzing the effects of population growth to the potentialities of the land and the impact of new agricultural technology y intervention as adaptation to the shifting cultivation habits in the Litamali, Sisi, and Rainawe villages, Belu district. his study hopes to be access of benefit to the local population by using knowledge on Environmental Sciences for agricultural purposes.

This is a descriptive study using survey methods and instruments. As technique of data collection was used questionnaires, interviews and the use of some related secondary data. The study was executed between July 2002 and June 2003 in the three (3) villages being Litamali, Sisi and Rainawe. The reason selecting there three villages in Belu were: a) both in the unirrigated agricultural land, two cultivation system the sedentary and shifting cultivation systems; b) each are still being used e.q. village have different in topographic characteristics - (1) Litamali is located on the low lands, (2) Sisi is located on the mountain slope, (3) Rainawe is on the shores - and c) each village has their different population density caused natural population growth, in migration from Timor Leste.

In this study, population means households represented by family head of the villages Litamali, Sisi village, and Rainawe. The chosen sample 10% from population or 91 households, decided by using the simple random sampling method. Moreover, data of this study were tabulated and analyzed by cross tabulation population growth and their potential land and also correlation between the use of the new agricultural technology to the farmers ability as replected by the change process shifting to sedentary cultivation.

The study result showed that:

a) 86% of the Litamali respondents and 64% of the Rainawe respondents, concluded that they starting to go for permanent cultivation, although, 63% the farmers of the Sisi village prefer to go on the shifting cultivation system.

b) The conclution between of new agricultural technology to the fanner adaptation change was 58% respondents an the Litamali village, 44% an the Sisi and 50% the Rainawe village. Consequently, the some changes in cultivation components have in fluence social interaction, correlated to local custom, the local economic pattern and the traditional agricultural technology.

Conclusions of this study are (1) the shifting cultivation system in Litamali, and Rainawe at the moment is beginning to changed settled cultivation system; cartrang farmers the Sisi village are still using the shifting cultivation system (2) the new agricultural technology is used by farmers in cultivation activity.

Number of References : 48 (forty eigth); issued from 1949-2003