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 AS more and more padi fields on Borneo Island are gradually being replaced by commercial projects like housing, one has to move further away from the cities and towns to actually see planting and harvesting activities.

In decades past, residents in and around Jesselton (as Kota Kinabalu was previously known), could easily view such padi farming actions by the roadside in Penampang and Kepayan areas nearby.

In January 2009, I made a trip to the Tuaran district, one of the rich padi cultivation centres in Sabah, to personally witness actual harvesting on the ground.

Native chief, Senteri Lombuti, came to my aid, guiding me to one of the padi fields of his village, Kg. Tinuhan, at Tenghilan. There, I find Bilu Pantai, sickle in hand, hard at work with his wife Saimah Malas whose sister Salinah has come all the way from the coastal district of Kuala Penyu to lend a hand in the reaping activities.

It has been a tradition for immediate family members, likes sons and daughters, and members of the extended family of padi farming communities in Borneo to return to the farms and give a helping hand during harvesting season.

From what I can see, padi cultivators in this village like many other farming communities in Sabah and Sarawak are still following the traditional system relying on seasonal rainfall and planting once a year.

Bilu uses the sickle in harvesting the stalks that are heavily laden with ripe padi whilst the two sisters, Saimah and Salinah have a hard time trying to salvage whatever they could from stalks lying in another section of the plantation fallen by a rain storm.

Strong wind and heavy rain storms could do much damage to ripe padi stalks. Once fallen by the wind, it is extremely difficult for the padi to be harvested.

Much of the crop would be lost, as normally only a small fraction of the rice from the fallen stalks could be retrieved from the ground. It was a tedious job for the two sisters.

Bilu threshes the cut stalks at a wooden contraption built under a tent and the hand picked ears reaped by the two female farm help have to be trampled on with bare feet on a bamboo mat at one of several sulaps (small huts) around the fields that serve as temporary shelters for the freshly harvested crop.

Bilu’s wife, Saimah is winnowing freshly harvested padi with a bamboo tray.

His wife is seen winnowing with her skillful hands using a bamboo tray.

“We have a very good harvest this year although a small part of the crop was damaged by strong wind and rain a few days ago,” this Tenghilan farmer tells me during a break from reaping in the hot sun that morning.

He plants a few varieties of padi to serve various needs in the year ahead — as staple food, the black variety for cake making and cooking of porridge whilst the balance of padi stocks are sold to generate cash for the family as and when a need arises.

Clearing of the fields takes place in June and July followed by planting in the two months that follow. By January, harvesting begins. If the fields are small, like the ones owned by Bilu, no mechanized methods are used.

By April, all harvesting work is completed. And come May, it is harvest festivals time at various levels, village, mukim (territory, like Tenghilan), district and state.

During off season, Bilu works as a carpenter and at a rubber plantation nearby.

Senteri Lombuti, the village head at Kg. Tinuhan, is also a Ketua Anak Negeri (a government appointed state native chief).

Meanwhile, Senteri, headman of Kg. Tinuhan, reported that he too was very pleased with the bountiful harvests of his villagers, prompting him to start plans for a kampung level Kaamatan festival, after a lapse of several years.

After all, what is there to celebrate if the harvest is poor or when there is nothing to reap at all? By and large, harvest festival is an event for celebration, a time to be happy, and more importantly a thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.

Farmers at this village at Tenghilan have a good reason to be happy and a good cause for thanksgiving this year.

Like the inland natives in Sabah, this is also an occasion of thanksgiving for the Dayaks and Ibans in Sarawak.

May to early June is a favourable time to rejoice over good harvest of the past year, to make plans for the farming activities for the year ahead and to look forward to the new season with enthusiasm and hope.