One of Bali's greatest assets is its stunning rice fields. Just by looking at them you can imagine that maintaining them is pretty complicated. So not surprisingly there is an organization responsible for the irrigation of these fields which is called the
'subak'. Every Balinese village has one of these so called irrigation organizations and all rice field farmers are obliged to join
Subak and do what this organization asks them to do. Bali is a mountainous volcanic island and to get the water supply from the mountains onto the rice fields below isn't an easy job. It takes a complex system of canals, tunnels, pipes, dams and dikes to flood or drain the rice fields at the right time.
If a Balinese rice farmer had to do this by himself it would be mission impossible. That's why the Balinese had to organize themselves into Subak or irrigation organizations since the ninth century to create something we travellers today love to see and make pictures of. The irrigation organization plans the distribution of water to all the rice field farmers and ensures that there is no shortage. It also does repairs on the many canals, dams and dikes and helps to prevent that sand or waste clogs the rice fields. The head of the organization is called the 'kliang' and the headmen are called 'penyarikan subak' who have assistants called 'pangliman'.
