From Field to Plate: the Chain of Operation in Maroon Rice Cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana

From Field to Plate: the Chain of Operation in Maroon Rice Cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article From Field to Plate: the Chain of Operation in Maroon Rice Cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana Nicholaas Milliano Pinas, Marieke van de Loosdrecht, Eric Schranz, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5438376/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped slavery between 1650 and 1863 in Suriname, have a unique rice farming system. Rice is one of their main staple crops, but although previously framed as primitive and destructive, Maroon agriculture has never been studied in detail. Here we analyze the chain of operation of Maroon rice farming, the sequence of activities instrumental in reaching a desired goal, rice production. We interviewed Maroon 99 farmers and collected rice varieties from 106 farmers. We asked about their personal and cultural motivations to cultivate rice, their varieties, how they obtained them, the sequence of farming activities, and the role of men, women, and adolescents during these activities. The operation chain is complex and differs slightly among communities and the areas where they reside. Practices are influenced by seasonality, local environmental conditions, personal conditions, religion, and ethnicity. In Maroon rice farming, the main goal is to maintain food security, sovereignty, and cultural identity, not only in the short term but also in the distant future. As such, our results contrast with previous research that has described Maroon farming practices as inferior, static, and lacking ecological connection to the land. Agricultural Engineering Maroons Rice diversity Seed management Agriculture Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Introduction The interior of Suriname and French Guiana is a dense forest area inhabited by indigenous peoples and Maroons. A common feature of these two groups is the way they grow their food, using a farming method known as shifting cultivation. Farming with this method implies creating a new field, known as a swidden, by slashing and burning trees and other vegetation, after which it is used for a variety of crops for one to three growing seasons. Differences between the farming methods of these groups are provided from either cultural or ecological perspectives. Anthropologists have studied the cultures of these groups, primarily focusing on the various Maroon sub-groups, highlighting cultural differences, and how these relate to certain routines and products from farming, hunting, and fishing (de Groot 1985 ; Price 1983 ). The ecological perspective is prominent in studies from agronomists and forestry experts, highlighting how shifting cultivation affects soil fertility and forest recovery. With few exceptionsthese studies typically reiterate ecological stereotypes about shifting cultivation (Lobach, 2023 ). In this paper, we take a closer look at the shifting cultivation activities of the Maroon groups. Growing rice on swiddens distinguishes Maroons from the indigenous groups who do not have a rice-growing tradition. Moreover, rice has been commonly grown by all Maroon sub-groups, from the early years of their formation until today. For the Maroons, rice is a cultural marker crop or what ethnobotanists call a cultural keystone species (Garibaldi and Turner, 2004). A focus on rice thus helps to create a distinction between the main groups practicing shifting cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana without falling back on ecological stereotypes as well as avoiding the more scattered characterizations of food and farming resulting from ethnographies of Maroon subgroups. The close interaction between rice cultivation and the value system of Maroon groups can be described as a chain of operation. Also known as the original French concept chaîne opératoire , it offers an analytical tool for recording and breaking down a complex process into step-by-step actions that bring raw material from a natural to a manufactured state (Coupaye 2009 ; Cresswell 1976 ). Applied to farming communities, a chain of operation also represents the way of life, traditions, and nature of subsistence of communities and how their farm operation is embedded in wider networks of knowledge and technologies (Bray 2020 ; Coupaye 2009 ). Maroons are descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped slavery and built societies in remote places in the forested hinterlands that were difficult to reach for colonial governments and soldiers (de Groot 1985 ). With their newfound freedom, Maroons practiced agriculture based on their knowledge of farming as brought from Africa by their enslaved ancestors, adapted and extended on plantations, and from contacts with Indigenous groups (Elfrink et al. 2024 ; Fleury 2016 ; Maat et al. 2023 ). Maroon societies developed their agriculture without the direct involvement of the Dutch colonial authorities, and later the Surinamese and French governments. Contact between Maroons and the authorities has been limited for centuries to special occasions, such as the exchange of trade goods and the installments of postholders (Price 1983 ; Thoden van Velzen 2022 ). Nowadays, Suriname and French Guiana encompass six Maroon groups: the Saamaka (estimated population size ~ 82,500), Okanisi or Ndjuka (~ 82,500), Matawai (~ 6,800), Pamakka (~ 11,000), Aluku or Boni (~ 11,000) and Kwinti (~ 1,000). Most of them still live in the forested interior of both countries, but the majority of the Matawai and Kwinti have migrated to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname (Price 2013 ). Rice is one of the staple crops in all Maroon communities and farmers grow many genetically different varieties (van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). Maroon rice farming has also been viewed as primitive in post-colonial times. Budelman and Ketelaar (1974) stated that the Maroon dryland rice varieties were not suitable for permanent cultivation, and proposed that they should be replaced by wetland rice varieties that were more profitable for trading and export. Nascente and Kromocardi (2016) stated that rice yields were low and problematic for the Maroons and insufficient to meet their demand. They advised replacing their traditional varieties with modern Brazilian rice cultivars to increase grain yield and ensure food security, which would need costly inputs of fertilizers and herbicides. Despite the criticism of Maroon agriculture from governments and agronomists over the past decades (Lobach 2023 ), Maroons continued growing rice. Today, some farmers still maintain up to 20 different landraces on one field, some of which go back to the early days of marronage ~ 375 years ago (Pinas et al. 2023 , van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). Here we focus on the chain of operation for rice farming in Saamaka, Okanisi, Matawai, and Pamakka villages. We will look into the techniques, knowledge, tools, crop diversity, seasonality, beliefs, cultural activities, division of labor, pest management, and processing methods. Based on the scantly available literature, we will analyze whether the Maroons have changed their agricultural practices over time. Methods In 2017, 2021, 2022, and 2023, we interviewed 99 farmers (three men and 96 women) using semi-structured questionnaires. We collected rice varieties kept in storage or grown on the fields from 106 farmers (three men and 103 women): seven Matawai, 58 Okanisi, five Pamakka, and 36 Saamaka. For an overview of our sampling locations, see Fig. 1 . We obtained verbal consent from each farmer and written permission from the traditional Maroon authorities for our field research. We asked farmers how many varieties they had, and how they obtained them. We observed the clearing, burning, sowing, and harvesting of several fields. We asked for information about rice harvesting and processing of rice, and the role of gender and age groups in these activities. We also spoke with two commercial Maroon rice farmers (both men) who cultivated rice in small monocultures for the market in Paramaribo. Data on typical Maroon rice dishes were retrieved from Ising ( 2022 ). Farmers were compensated for their time spent with the researchers. Living rice seeds have been deposited at the SNRI/ADRON rice gene bank in Nickerie, Suriname, and the Svalbard Seed Vault in Norway. Rice plant specimens have been deposited at the National Herbarium of Suriname in Paramaribo (BBS), and Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden (L), the Netherlands. Statistical tests to examine differences in the number of rice varieties among Maroon groups and river basins were conducted in Rstudio with Base-R v.4.3.2. Using the Shapiro-Wilk Normality Test ( shapiro.test() ) from the stats package v.3.6.2 we found that the data shows a non-normal distribution (W = 0.88, p = 7.38 x 10 − 8 ). The data was grouped and the means, medians, and standard deviations were calculated (see Supplementary Table SX.A), and visualized with violin density plots using the ggplot(), geom_violin() and geom_dotplot() functions from the ggplot2 package v.3.5.1. Subsequently, we investigated using nonparametric tests whether the rice diversity differs between Maroon groups and river basins. We detected a significant effect for both these factors with a Kruskall-Wallis Test ( Kruskal. test() function, stats package), and subsequently we applied the Dunn’s Test with a Bonferroni correction ( dunnTest() function , FSA package) to test the medians for all pairwise combinations of the Maroon groups, and river basin groups, respectively. Results Field selection Selecting the best possible location for a new field every year is crucial to rice production. Albert Aboikoni, paramount chief of the Saamaka Maroons, explained that his forefathers divided the forest so every family had an area where their descendants could open a farm field. Naali Ongobe, a Saamaka rice farmer said that during the rainy season in May, June, and July, people go into the forest searching for suitable areas for a new field. “In the rainy season, the water levels are high, and we can see where our crops will survive in the forest. A good field location is partially wet and partially dry at that moment”. For rice varieties that need wet soil, patches are chosen close to a small creek, while for those that prefer better-drained soil, a non-flooded part is selected. However, fields are also chosen for their suitability to grow cassava, plantains, and other crops. In the past, before a new field was opened, Maroons would first consult the local ampuku forest spirit (Price 1983 ). As they believed that the forest was the domain of these supernatural beings, asking for their permission was necessary. In the documentary Stones Have Laws (van Brummelen and de Haan 2022), Saamaka people showed this ritual: a small patch of forest was cleared where they placed two forked sticks holding a young, manually unfolded palm leaf. If the leaf was still up the next morning the local ampuku had agreed to a new field at that location. If the leaf had fallen, the spirit objected, and they had to search for a new location. We no longer observe or hear about this activity, but we cannot rule out that it is still occasionally practiced. This ritual shows the spiritual significance of the forest to the Maroons and the respect they pay to forest entities to be allowed to farm in their territories. Several farmers indicated that the rainforest soil was fertile, so they did not need to measure soil fertility before choosing a field location. Still, they had techniques to test soil quality: a healthy growing watermelon sown as the first crop indicated fertile soil. Another method was to watch how quickly rainwater would drain from a field. Most rice fields we observed were made of brown and white sandy loam. Red laterite soil is used around Brokopondo. Rice fields in peat swamps were only seen in the Cottica area. Occasionally, women grew rice on white sand or clay riverbanks. Saamaka women in Bataliba, a group of five villages near the southern bank of the Brokopondo Reservoir, occasionally select the banks of the many islands in the lake as rice fields. These soils are rich in organic matter deposited during the rainy season when these islands are flooded. These banks often become exposed during the dry season and become overgrown with weeds, which are burnt to make rice fields. These areas need less clearing as there are no trees that need to be felled. However, by farming on these island banks, farmers risk losing the harvest when the water level rises unexpectedly and kills the rice plants. Saamaka farmer Mai Kaise explained that these rice fields were not available every year, as it depended on the water level during the dry season. “What we plant are the common rice varieties that we use every year, and they grow well on both dry soil and flooded land. As long as the culm is above the water, it ripens. We harvest it while standing in the water” (Supplementary file, video 1). In 2020, the Bataliba farmers had a good harvest (Supplementary file, video 2), but in 2021, water levels were very high. Even the fields on dry land were somewhat flooded. Farmers saw that the water level in the lake was already quite high during the sowing season, so they decided not to sow rice on the islands. In March 2022, they did plant rice on the island shores, but the water levels became unexpectedly high during harvest time (NOS 2022), so they lost all their crops. Okanisi farmer Sonia Sini (Lawa River, French Guiana) was one of the few who made her field on a riverbank. She said it was very fertile soil due to annual sediment deposits from the river. Her rice harvest from a small field was enough for a whole year and she had a surplus to sell on the local market. Although she had to wait until the water level dropped before planting, she said: “This soil is cold, so crops also grow well in the dry and hot season”. In spite of the high yields on riverbanks, few farmers were willing to take the risk of flooded fields. Field preparation In the past, after the ampuku forest spirit gave his permission to create a new field, men would start clearing the undergrowth of the forest with machetes and cut down trees with axes (Price 1983 , Herskovits and Herskovits 1934 ). We observed Maroon men creating new fields by felling large trees with chainsaws (Fig. 2 A) and using machetes to clear shrubs and small trees. . The process of creating a field in the primary forest around Santigron that we observed took approximately four months. The men started cleaning the undergrowth in July, in August trees were felled, in September the field was burned, and in October all the remaining shrubs and sticks were placed on a heap and burned again. Charred tree stumps and logs lying on the ground are seldom removed, a common practice in slash-and-burn farming, as they slowly release nutrients to the crops (Kleinman et al. 1995). Fallow periods In most Maroon communities, fields are cultivated for two years, after which a new one is created. Abandoned fields will be left to grow back into secondary forests, from which some remaining fruits and cassava roots are occasionally harvested. After the soil fertility has been restored for at least five to 10 years it is opened again. A decade ago, Fleskens and Jorritsma (2010) noted that Saamaka farmers in Nieuw Lombé had shorter fallow periods leading to less soil fertility, and extrapolated this to the entire Maroon community. Although we did not ask all farmers, no one indicated using shorter fallow periods than before or complained about the loss of soil fertility. Most farmers preferred a field in the primary forest because those were more fertile than those in secondary forests. Satellite images show a mosaic of provision fields in different stages of regrowth around Maroon villages (Fig. 3 ). Some farmers had fields up to 10 km from the village, with small sheds in which they could sleep over if needed. John Jackson, a Saamaka representative in the Netherlands, said that as a child in the 1960s, he lived for months with his family in a small house on the fields, combining the harvest of rice and other crops with hunting and fishing. Seed selection and storage Generally, farmers start with seed selection during the harvest. Every farmer keeps some of the best stock of her harvest as plant material for the next season. For every variety, at least two bundles or a 2-liter soft drink bottle are kept in an old oil drum covered with a lid to prevent insects and rodents from damaging the grains (Fig. 4 A). Shattering rice varieties are stored as loose grains in glass bottles or small plastic bags. A plastic drum or large plastic bags were not ideal for storing rice: because of condensation, the rice could become moldy. Another way of storing rice, more adapted to large quantities, is special granaries called kë́dë́ ósu (Saamaka) or pikin osu (Pamakka), which are built on pillars to prevent rodents and snakes from entering. We encountered sheds made from wood and corrugated iron; the latter were said to be more durable (Fig. 4 B and 4 C). Seeds selected for sowing can be kept for approximately one year in a granary or oil drum. One farmer complained that she gave plant material to a neighbor who had lost her seeds, but that woman consumed all and did not sow it. This was seen as unacceptable: the availability of seed stock is seen as a social security system. Marie Huur, a farmer in Pokigron (Fig. 5 ), explained that she always kept a bundle of each variety for family members and friends in case they lost their rice for whatever reason. Most farmers said they would ask their family or neighbors for sowing material when they had lost their rice. Cottica farmers told us that many of their rice varieties were lost when they had to flee their territory during Suriname’s Civil War (1986–1992). They spent years in refugee camps in French Guiana and were not allowed to make provision fields. Some farmers worked illegally in rice fields for the Hmong, refugees of the Vietnam War who settled in French Guiana (Hoogbergen and Polimé 2002; van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). After the war, when farmers returned to Suriname, they took the Hmong rice along and depended on gifts from other Maroon communities to build a new rice stock. John Jackson explained that in his youth, a storage method existed that could preserve rice for longer than a year, and was interconnected with the mourning traditions in this village. When a paramount chief passed away, women were not allowed to visit rice fields for three months, even if this coincided with the sowing period, as it was believed they would lose their rice. “To prevent the rice from losing its germination ability, they would open a goloe calabash ( Lagenaria siceraria ) and dry it well. Then they would place the rice seeds in it together with charcoal. They closed the goloe and stored it in the granary, but took out the seeds every month, dried them again in the sun, and placed them back in the goloe . This method kept the seeds longer viable”. This method indicates that losing rice seeds had to be avoided at all costs. We did not encounter this practice anymore: farmers could not remember it. Although these mourning restrictions are still in place, women can now easily buy rice in shops or travel to open a rice field further away from the village. Maintaining rice diversity Several Maroon rice varieties have morphological traits that are regarded as problematic in commercial agriculture, such as itching leaves, hairy husks, or prickly awns that irritate the hands when touched. Half of the varieties we collected had hairy husks. Many varieties had anthocyanins, a blue ink-like liquid that stains the hands when the stem is cut. This was not seen as an undesirable trait. The median number of rice varieties among all Maroon farmers we interviewed was 5.4, ranging from one to 20 (Fig. 6 ). The Saamaka cultivate a significantly larger number of varieties (median = 8) than the Okanisi (median = 3, p adjusted = 8.53 x 10 − 9 ) and Pamakka (median = 2, p adjusted = 1.59 x 10 − 3 ) (Fig. 6 A). One reason mentioned by Okanisi and Pamakka farmers is that they produced kwak (a dry cereal-like food made from toasted bitter cassava) as their main staple food. Rice diversity appears to be particularly high along the Suriname River basin (Fig. 6 B). Saamaka farmer Okinta Main from Pikin Rio maintained 20 varieties and knew all the names of her varieties and the place or person she received them from. The Okanisi farmers in Tapoeripa, in the same river basin, have the highest rice diversity of all Okanisi with 12 varieties in one field. While Asian rice is mostly cultivated for consumption, African rice is grown for cultural, medicinal, and spiritual purposes, although some Maroons eat it as well. Farmers indicated they sowed it as an offering to the forest spirit so they would have an abundant harvest (Pinas et al. 2024 ). Sowing methods The sowing process starts with gathering the rice bundles selected as plant material from the storage. To remove seeds from the stalks, Okanisi and Pamakka farmers place the bundles in old polyethylene bags and invite children to walk on them. Saamaka and Matawai farmers do this differently: they put rice bundles in a wooden mortar and beat it with a pestle until the seeds come off from the panicles. The loose seeds are placed on a large wooden tray and winnowed to remove straw and empty husks, while bad seeds are handpicked and discarded. On sowing day, some farmers place seeds in a bucket with water (Fig. 7 A), so empty husks and bad seeds that were missed during the winnowing would float on the surface and could be easily removed. However, most farmers do not soak their seeds but sow them directly. This is done by broadcasting, but seeds cannot be left unprotected on the soil as birds will pick them from the ground. To protect against the birds the seeds are covered with soil with a hoe, known in Suriname as tjap (Fig. 7 B). A different sowing method is diki olo : digging a small hole with a hoe, dropping some seeds in it, and covering it with soil. This method is used to sow small patches of rice between other crops. Hand broadcasting and diki olo were sometimes used interchangeably. Farmers explained that the preferred method depended on the location of their field. “If you plant rice in an area with lots of birds, then you must cover the seeds with soil. If your new field is made in a primary forest, the local birds might not be familiar with rice, so you can sow without covering”. Some Okanisi farmers sing a special song on the last day of sowing, in which they mention something that died and they buried in the ground. Sowing season Suriname has two rainy seasons: the first starts around mid-April and lasts till the end of July and the second starts in December and lasts until the end of March. Sowing is done at the beginning of the rainy season. Okanisi, Aluku, and Pamakka farmers in the southeastern part of the interior (Upper Marowijne, Tapanahoni, and Lawa Rivers), sow rice around December and harvest in April/May. The farmers explained that the weather was too wet in July for rice to ripen and to dry in the sun, so planting a second crop was not possible. The Okanisi along the lower Marowijne River, however, plant rice in April and harvest between July and September, just like the majority of the Saamaka farmers in the Suriname River basin. A few Saamaka farmers along the Suriname River sowed both in December and around April and had two harvests per year. Generally, farmers wait for the rain to start before they begin sowing. If the soil is too dry, the seeds do not germinate quickly and birds would eat the soil-covered seeds by removing the dirt with their feet. In wet soil, the seeds would germinate within two to three days, hence minimizing the chances of bird predation. Maroon farmers do not consult the weather forecast for updates on rainfall but instead listen to a local cicada named siksi-yuru ( Fidicina mannifera ). This insect must stop ‘singing’ his loud song, which indicates that it will soon start to rain (Pinas et al. 2024 ). About 70% of the farmers keep their rice varieties separate in storage and in the fields. Every variety has its patch, so during harvest, it is easy to keep culms of the same variety together. Generally, farmers sow some varieties first (mostly the ones that take long to ripen, such as alëkisóóla ) and the shorter ripening ones later. This is done to even out labor during harvest but also prevents outcrossing, as the different varieties flower at separate moments. About 30% of the farmers mix threshed seeds of different varieties in buckets or oil drums, and thus sow and harvest mixtures without separating them. This facilitates crossings between varieties, as they flower next to each other and at the same time. The sowing density of rice seeds differs per individual farmer. In 2023 we measured sowing density in three locations, which ranged from 314 to 448 seeds per square meter. Agrochemicals After rice seeds have been sown and germinated, farmers regularly inspect the young plants and continue planting other crops, such as okra, plantain, and cassava. The decaying wood and charcoal provide the crops with nutrients as they rot over time. John Jackson explained that this has been the practice of Maroons since they escaped slavery. According to teacher and farmer Norma Main from Pambooko, Upper Suriname River, a newly cut field in a primary rainforest produces the highest rice yields. Rice planted for the second year on the same field has a much lower harvest than that of the first year. This is congruent with the observation that organic material in the soil decreases over time due to leaching out (Kleinman et al. 1995). The farmers we interviewed were adamant that agrochemicals were not part of their rice cultivation practices. We did not observe the usage of synthetic fertilizers like NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). Neither the governments of Suriname and French Guiana nor NGOs hand out any agrochemicals to the farmers to support them. However, in four fields that we visited, we saw empty Gramoxone bottles lying on the edge of the forest. Gramoxone (paraquat) is a strong herbicide, widely used in coastal Suriname, but prohibited in the European Union because of its toxicity. The farmers said that they used it to kill the grass and weeds in the field before sowing, but they did not use it directly on the rice. Mitigating pests and diseases Although we did not ask all farmers, those we asked indicated that they did not have any diseases or pests affecting their rice. Albertina Adjako, the Brokopondo regional farmers’ coordinator, explained that in the years she has been working in the Maroon community the farmers occasionally complained that parts of their rice fields were not producing well. She said: “I advise farmers to keep their rice diversity, use many different varieties, and continue intercropping with other food plants such as okra, banana, cassava, yams, and taro. It is those activities that keep rice plants healthy”. Farmers near St. Laurent du Maroni (French Guiana) complained about mira udu , an invasive tree ( Acacia mangium ) that was introduced to reforest old mines in French Guiana (Theys et al. 2023 ). “ Mira udu takes away all the strength of my field, and it does not die when you burn it, it just starts growing again and competes with my rice and cassava. Trees only die when you ringbark them completely”, said farmer Maneshka Manu. From our interviews, we deduce that a recurring problem in Maroon rice cultivation is bird predation. Birds pick freshly sown rice from the ground, attack the grains before they are harvested and break rice culms with their feet when eating from the seeds. In every area, several bird species were active threats. The most common birds mentioned were baaka ti or potokii ( Molothrus bonariensis ), doves ( Columbina talpacoti ; Patagioenas cayennensis ), andoki ( Volatinia jacarina ), and apiikutu ( Forpus passirinus ). Farmers took bird-preventing methods like nets above freshly planted field, shooting birds with catapults or hanging CDs or aluminum pot lids on a thread that would create light flashes or noise in the wind. However, the most frequent answer was: “We do nothing because birds don’t eat everything”. Sometimes, in a laconic way, farmers said: “Well, even the birds need to feed”. Although some Maroons own guns, they do not use them for the mass killing of birds because they believe the birds also have a part to play in nature. Some Maroons even planted a small patch of black rice for the birds, “to distract them from the other varieties”. A reason for this attitude may stem from the belief that birds once made (black) rice available to the Maroons by dispersing the seeds in open savannahs that the Maroons crossed during their escape from slavery (Pinas et al. 2024 ). Farmers from the Cottica had a similar positive attitude towards capibaras ( Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris ), large rodents that live near rivers and swamps. They believed that capibaras helped to increase rice yields: if they fed on young rice, the plants would produce more tillers. This would later increase the rice yield because every tiller would produce a culm with grains. During our fieldwork, we noticed that both awned, hairy, and glabrous Maroon varieties were much less attacked by birds than commercial cultivars (Pinas et al. 2024 ). However, it remains unclear what other traits Maroon rice plants have that protect against bird predation. Ripening Farmers had different ways of identifying when the rice was ripe. In French Guiana, they said that when the tip of the seed changes its color to black, the rice is ready to harvest. A large part of the Maroon rice diversity possesses these distinctly colored tips. Varieties called alulu are harvested before they are fully ripe because they shatter easily; the seeds drop from the ripe panicle when cutting it. The same is true for African rice (Pinas et al. 2023 ). Varieties called jengejenge make a particular bell-like sound when the wind goes through the ripe culms of the rice. Birds feeding on the rice is also a sign that it is ready for harvest. However, the most obvious indicator of ripe rice grains is that their color changes from green to brown, orange, or white. Most Maroon rice ripens between 110 days (African rice) and 129 days ( alëkisóóla ). Small-seeded rice varieties tend to ripe faster than larger-seeded varieties. However, the swamp rice masaa in the Cottica region may take more than 180 days to ripen (Pinas al. 2024). Harvesting Harvesting plays a central role in Maroon rice farming. Since it requires much labor, family members travel back from the city to offer a helping hand. The rice harvest in July-August coincides with the school vacation period in Suriname and French Guiana, which allows for the participation of youngsters. Harvesting is mostly done by groups of women, who often sing traditional and modern songs during their work (Supplementary file, video 1). Given that so many people are working together, rice harvesting strengthens family ties and cultural bonds. After harvest, rice panicles are sundried for three to four weeks before being placed in storage. At the time of harvest, some grains fall on the ground because harvesting is done manually and some varieties shatter quickly. These fallen grains sprout again and can be reaped in a second harvest three to four months later, known as gro baka alisi . These grains are never included in the planting stock because they tend to be smaller than grains from the first harvest, but they are still consumed. The majority of Maroon rice varieties at maturity have a length between 110 and 177 cm, much taller than commercial rice (Pinas et al. 2024 ). Greta Pinas explained that farmers prefer tall varieties to facilitate manual harvesting: “When cutting panicles, we sometimes stand in the field for eight hours. Imagine we would have to bend over all this time! Thus, we prefer standing. We do have varieties that fall [lodge] easily because of the wind (known as ‘ wintiwaai ’). In that case, we bend to pick up the panicles, but it is only for a short time”. Ripe panicles are often exactly located at the height of a woman’s hands. Of the 284 unique names for rice varieties that we collected (Pinas et al. 2023 ), three indicated a short rice variety, with Saamaka names such as asindo atapa (sit down at a table) and basu alisi (low rice). Paramount chief Aboikoni explained that the national rice breeding institute SNRI/ADRON gave him some short, high-yielding varieties a while ago to share with the farmers. These may be the same short varieties we collected near his residence. In general, rice names strongly reflect Maroon culture and history. While some ‘old’ varieties are named after the women who took them along after their flight to freedom, others are named after women in general (‘dancing woman’, ‘white-headed lady’), forest animals, morphological characters, or the person or group of runaways who first introduced the variety to a community (Pinas et al. 2023 ). During harvest, adults use ordinary kitchen knives (Fig. 9 A) to cut the panicles 15 to 20 cm below the first seeds. Children between 8 and 12 are given wooden knives (Fig. 9 B), made from the petiole of a maripa palm ( Attalea maripa ). We observed that the children's participation is for knowledge transfer purposes (learning how to harvest rice) and not so much workload management. When harvesters have a handful of panicles, they bundle them up and tie them with strips of banana leaf (Fig. 10 ). Saamaka farmers usually bind five bundles into a larger one locally known as gaán máun (‘large hand’). The ‘green’ rice bundles are placed on metal roofing sheets in the village for a couple of weeks to dry. They are turned once or twice daily so each side faces the sun. Mr. Pai, an Okanisi farmer, explained that his mother used to dry rice in her cooking shed with the heat and smoke from the wood she burned to make a fire. She constructed the roof of her shed with space to place rice bundles on top of the fire. Every two days, she would turn the rice bundles, so they were heated evenly. Freshly harvested rice excretes a milky substance when the grains are broken. If this liquid no longer shows when the seeds are squeezed, the farmers know that the rice is well-dried. The bundles are placed in their storage facilities (Fig. 4 ). Some of the best grains are kept as sowing material for the next season, and the rest is used as food. If there is a food shortage during harvest, and people do not have any more rice in stock from the last season, they soak the freshly harvested bundles in hot water. In this way, the ‘fresh’ husks are easily removed in a mortar and the rice can directly be cooked and eaten. Rice Processing Maroon rice processing consists of six phases: threshing (separation of seeds from the panicle), milling (removing the unpalatable husks from the grain), winnowing (eliminating the husks), manually eliminating bad grains, washing, and cooking. These phases are not the same in all Maroon communities. Okanisi and Pamakka separate the grains from the panicles by spreading them out on a sheet of plastic and mashing them with their bare feet in circular movements until the grains come loose from the panicle (Suppl. file, video 4). Saamaka and Matawai tend to separate rice grains from the panicles by holding the dried rice bundles with one hand in a wooden mortar and pounding it with the other with a pestle (Supplementary file, Video 5). Another method is placing the bundles in a polyethylene bag and beating it with a stick. The Okanisi barefoot threshing is much easier when shattering varieties (known as alulu ) are used. Okanisi frequently grow shattering varieties, but they do not grow varieties with long stiff awns, as they do not like the awns sticking in their feet during threshing. The few awned Okanisi rice types (e.g., koko tatai ) have soft and brittle awns that break off easily during threshing. In contrast, shattering varieties are hardly grown by Saamaka and Matawai farmers, but they have many stiff-awned varieties (e.g., watradagu , atjakati ). Milling or dehusking, known locally as tila (Saamaka and Okanisi) is done similarly by all Maroons. Women hold the pestle with both hands and pound with increased strength the round side of the pestle on the separated rice seeds (Supplementary file, Video 6). The pounding happens with different levels of velocity and strength. Recently, several villages obtained diesel-generated rice milling machines. Farmers indicated that rice processed by hand is tastier and healthier than milled rice, as more bran ( goma ) is left on the grains. However, the rice mills alleviate them from the hard labor necessary for hand-milling rice. The mortar (Fig. 11 A) is often made with wood from kopi ( Goupia glabra ), rode kabbes ( Andira surinamensis ) or zwarte kabbes ( Diplotropis purpurea ). Wood from these trees is heavy and does not break easily even when it is hit repeatedly with a heavy pestle. The pestle (Fig. 11 B) is known as tatí (Saamaka, Matawai) or tiki (Okanisi, Pamakka) and is made from the wood locally known as balata or bolletrie ( Manilkara bidentata ). Chief Waterberg of Santigron explained that this wood is heavy and does not split easily, making it suitable for pounding rice and grinding groundnuts into peanut butter. Winnowing rice is done by scooping up grains with their loose husks from the mortar on a flat wooden tray known as paátu (Saamaka, Matawai) or tee (Okanisi, Pamakka). The rice is then thrown in the air so that the wind can blow away the lighter husks, leaving the heavier grain on the wooden tray (Fig. 11 C, Supplementary file, Video 6). Some grains from the tray are pounded in the mortar again to remove the remaining husks. Removing the few bad-quality grains is the last phase before the milled grains are rinsed three times to remove husks and debris that were missed during the winnowing. The wooden tray is often made from plank roots of pari udu ( Aspidosperma spp.), ingipipa ( Couratari spp.), or the wood of the trunk of ceder ( Cedrela odorata ). All rice processing activities take place in the village and are visible to all community members. Cooking and offering Most Maroon rice is consumed daily with a sauce containing vegetables and fish or meat. Special Maroon rice dishes, such as peanut rice, maipá síi alísi (rice cooked in maripa palm fat), coconut-rice porridge, and adantámataka (rice, coconut, and peanut dumplings) are mostly served during funerals and festivities to end the mourning period (Ising 2022 ). Saamaka and Matawai tend to consume more rice than Okanisi and Pamakka, as the latter also have kwak (granulated and toasted cassava) as a staple food. Many Maroon farmers told us that during funerals and festivities around the mourning period, which are attended by many people, one needs to bring home-grown Maroon rice. This is then hand-processed during the communal cooking activities (Ising, 2022 ). Several Okanisi farmers said their only reason to grow rice was to attend funerals. Raw and cooked rice is also used for offerings to the ancestors and other spirits. Maroons generally believe that their ancestors preferred home-grown rice and would be offended by store-bought rice. African rice is not used for cooking during festivities, but husked seeds are thrown in the coffin of the deceased so his/her spirit can pay for its passage to the afterlife (Pinas et al. 2024 ; van Andel and Ruysschaert, 2011). In the past, Saamaka women offered rice to the spirit of fertility shortly before their marriage (Herskovits and Herskovits 1934 ). Gender division of labor In general, activities related to rice cultivation were assigned according to gender (Table 1 ). We encountered only three men cultivating rice, who were either single or their wives permanently stayed in the city. We did not hear of any women felling trees or burning fields. Even those without husbands hired young men to prepare a field or asked family members to help them. Table 1 Activities within Maroon rice farming and the gender that mostly performs it Activity Gender and age division Field selection Men and women Cutting and burning a field in the forest Men, adolescent boys Field preparation Men, boys, women Seed selection and storage Women Sowing Women, adolescents Field management Women Harvesting Women, children, adolescents Rice processing Women, children Cooking Women, girls Tool making Men, adolescent boys A married woman cannot borrow tools used for rice processing from her neighbors, as these should have been made by her husband. An unmarried woman or widow is helped by close relatives. Chief Waterberg of Santigron explained that Maroons live in communities with relatives nearby, who are willing to help. Boys are trained by their fathers and uncles in toolmaking for their future wives. Nowadays, one can also buy these tools because every Maroon woman must have them. Teenagers, irrespective of gender, were often tasked with covering rice grains with soil after sowing (Fig. 8 B). Harvesting was done in rotation: all healthy females, girls, and boys in the age group 8 to 18 years partake in the fields of family members, such as grandmothers, mothers, and aunts. Table 1 shows the importance of learning, inter-generational, and gender-based activities. By practicing and learning about rice harvesting, young people are reminded of the importance of social relations and Maroon culture. Although women do most of the farm work and cooking, it is not hidden from men or other community members. Maroon women have the key role of keeping the diversity of their rice stock intact. They are also tasked with organizing labor for all the activities happening in their field, processing and cooking rice. If we asked Maroon men about rice varieties, they said they knew very little about the names of rice, and referred us directly towards women, as they were seen as the experts. The fact that rice varieties are seldom named after men, but very often after women (Pinas et al. 2023 ) also reflects the key role of women in maintaining diversity and selecting new stock. Motivations to grow rice The most frequently mentioned motivations of farmers to keep a rice field were food security, independence, and the ability to attend funeral-related activities. The expensive shop rice and the better taste, quality, and health aspects of Maroon rice also played a role, as well as continuing the ancestral. Farmer Mazo Kaise from Bataliba explained that as a Maroon woman, she could not come to a funeral or mourning ceremony with store-bought rice. Many farmers said that rice farming is their way of connecting and continuing the practices they inherited from their ancestors. Although evangelical churches prohibit people from attending rice offerings, some people said they were “church people” but still cultivated African rice, and some continued cultivating it for commercial purposes. While rice farming is widespread in the Saamaka, Matawai, and some Okanisi communities, it is dwindling in the Pamakka community. They said they farmed far less rice than before and had few fields and varieties left. This had to do with the focus on gold mining of youngsters in the community and Brazilian miners in the region who preferred to purchase kwak from farmers instead of rice. One village elder said the recent accidents with Pamakka gold miners were caused by their disregard for the forest spirits. Discussion Comparing past and present practices Although Maroon farming practices have been sparsely described before, we could detect some changes during the last decades or century. Chainsaws, diesel-powered rice mills, and corrugated iron granaries were hardly used before the 1990s. Most men do not collaborate anymore in large groups to clear each other’s fields (De Beet and Sterman 1981), as those who are working in the mining or logging industry do not always have time to return to the community to clear a field for their wives. They now hire men who are residing in the village to assist with this practice. In the past, people lived with their families on their provision fields for three months. Johan Spalburg, a government postholder and missionary among the Okanisi along the Tapanahoni River, complained that entire families disappeared from his church and school during the rice harvest period in July (Spalburg 1896–1900). Nowadays this appears no longer the case because the children must attend school. Currently, rice is also no longer harvested in July in the Tapanahoni area, only in April. Farmers have always been open to experimenting with new rice varieties. The cultivar Rexora was introduced in 1939 and readily adopted (Van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024), but varieties that did not perform well must have disappeared. Maroons can be seen as custodians of rice, as they maintain the rice that reflects their own history, but also grow rice that other ethnic groups in the Guianas (e.g., Hmongh, Javanese) may have lost. Some varieties have vanished in one community but are still present in other communities. Also, new varieties are adopted in one community but not [yet] in the others. The prevailing view is that Maroon farming is limited to upland varieties ( hoogland rijst ) that require drained soils (Sewnarain 2021 ), but we collected several wetland rice varieties planted along creek edges, and in the Cottica deep swamp varieties are popular. Differences between Maroon groups We noticed differences in agricultural seasons between the upper Marowijne basin (rice harvest in April), the coastal area (harvest in July-September), and the upper Suriname River basin (sometimes both seasons). This may be caused by differences in rainfall, a reason given by the farmers, or because Okanisi and Pamakka farmers rely less on rice as a staple food and prefer to produce kwak . We also noted that differences in threshing methods (barefoot versus sticks) influence the varieties that are cultivated (shattering or awned) or vice versa. Names of rice varieties differ substantially between Maroon groups and reflect their separate histories of escape from slavery and adaptation to the Amazonian environment (Pinas et al. 2023 ). Maroon rice has a rich genetic diversity: varieties with origins in West Africa, Asia and early rice breeding stations in the USA (van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). Further research is needed to analyse genetic differences in rice between Maroon groups. The size of rice fields and the number of rice varieties per farmer were highest among the Saamaka along the upper Suriname River basin and among the Okanisi in Tapoeripa, although these communities also had access to store-bought rice. The lowest diversity and smallest rice fields were seen in the Cottica and among the Pamakka. Both groups spent less time and effort to grow rice than in the past. The Cottica Okanisi lost much of their rice in the civil war but kept their unique deep swamp rice and the Hmong rice. The Pamakka had shifted to commercial kwak production but also lamented the decline in rice farming. Commercialization of Maroon rice The majority of farmers grow rice for consumption within their households. Self-sufficiency has been central in Maroon communities for centuries (Maat et al. 2023 ). Nonetheless, we also encountered two commercial Maroon rice farmers (both men) who had huge rice fields and hired local Maroon women to do the manual work. These two commercial farmers mostly grew rice in monocultures: one grew alekisola and the other used modern Brazilian cultivars and agrochemicals. They sold their rice as ‘Maroon rice’ in Paramaribo. In St. Laurent (French Guiana), there is a lack of agricultural land due to urbanization. As a result, the few Maroon women who have rice fields often sell their harvest on the city market, where it is bought by urban Maroons who either consume it or take it to funerals. Bags of unmilled Asian and African rice are sold at markets in Paramaribo to people of various ethnicities to use in offerings. Differences between Maroon agriculture and other shifting cultivation practices The shifting cultivation techniques of Maroons, such as clearing, burning, and leaving burned material to provide nutrients, are quite similar to those described for local Indigenous communities (Idoe 2010 ) and also more or less similar to the traditional shifting cultivation systems in African countries, as long as they take place on similar rainforest soils (Stromgaard 1985 ). Rice cultivation in mangrove swamps of the Upper Guinea region, however, is very different and requires much more manual labor to drain and desalinate the heavy clay soils (Temudo 2012). The differences between Maroon and indigenous agriculture in Suriname and French Guiana lie mostly in the crops and varieties that they cultivate. Maroons have rice at the center of their farming system, which leads to unique practices, while ndigenous farms probably contain a higher diversity of cassava (Idoe, 2010 ), although these indigenous crop varieties have not been studied in detail for Suriname and French Guiana. The cultural importance of rice for Maroons For Maroons, rice is an essential food, but also plays a role in rituals, funeral activities, mourning ceremonies, medicines, and offerings. The diversity of rice selected for this wide range of purposes makes the Maroon rice farming system unique. Rice can be considered a cultural keystone crop for Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana: it meets most of the criteria mentioned by Garibaldi and Turner (2004). Its intense and multiple uses, complicated naming system, role in ancestor narratives, ceremonies, songs, and memory, the difficulty and reluctance to replace it with store-bought rice, and the extent to which it provides opportunities for earning income all provide evidence for its status as cultural marker. Most information on plantations in Suriname highlights crops such as plantain, cassava, and taro as the main food crops (Maat et al. 2023 ). Although there is early evidence of experimenting with rice plantations (Elfrink et al. 2024 ), rice never became the main staple on plantations. For Maroons, growing rice was key to their survival as free individuals and still is a marker of cultural difference. Seed selection, storage, processing, and cooking are activities that are done in the village and between growing seasons. This highlights the cyclical aspect of farming but also shows the connection between fields and villages, on-farm and off-farm. Although women do most of the farm work and cooking, the significance is not hidden from men and other community members. Other Maroon crops may have similar or different cultural connections, but this research still needs to be done. Pressures We encountered many highly motivated young farmers who expressed they would continue farming as long as possible. Nonetheless, this does not mean there is no pressure on Maroon rice farming. Many youngsters are focusing on other ways of life such as gold mining, searching for higher education in cities like Paramaribo and Cayenne, or migrating to Europe. Christianity, and especially the evangelical churches, despise food offerings and label traditional Afro-Surinamese beliefs as ‘heathen practices’, which may also affect Maroon rice cultivation. On the other hand, the increasing costs of living in Suriname French Guiana have also stimulated Maroons to grow (and sell) more of their own food. Conclusion Our study indicates that food security, sovereignty, taste, cultural, and spiritual traditions have been the main drivers behind Maroon rice farming for the past 350 years. The chain of operations in rice farming is complex and differs slightly among communities, ethnic groups, and geographic locations. Contrasting with the view of Maroon farming being primitive and ineffective, our findings advocate for a different perspective. Changes made to the Amazon forest by Maroon agriculture are small compared to those caused by mining and logging companies. Wherever humans settled they made changes to the environment to meet daily needs. Sustainable use of the forest does not mean that nothing has to be cut down or used, it simply means that we treat the forest so that future generations are allowed to use nature as we do now. This has worked out well with the Maroons, given that several communities have been in the same place for over 300 years. Maroons can be seen as custodians of rice, preserving varieties over centuries but also adopting relevant new ones. Rice can be considered a cultural keystone crop of the Maroons, as it is strongly linked to their identity, oral history, and spirituality, but these links differ between communities and ethnic groups. While in some communities flourishing rice fields are omnipresent, in other communities, they are hardly seen. Statement and Declarations Funding declaration This research was financially supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (grant nr. OCENW.Klein.419). Declarations “All participants gave oral consent during our interviews and making of the photographs.” Acknowledgments This research was financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (OCENW.Klein.419). The authors thank the staff of the SNRI/ADRON, the National Herbarium Suriname (BBS), and all Maroon farmers and collaborators. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5438376","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":377091840,"identity":"26791953-0865-41df-b561-8b354248f79d","order_by":0,"name":"Nicholaas Milliano Pinas","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZgY2BoYCCPsAEMtBmAWEtBggtBhDmAZ47WFDUZDYQEiLOTvzswcfDOzk5Rt4Dx4uqKlL33Aj9wFzAR4tls1s5oYzDJINNxzgSzg849jh3A030g2YZ+DRYnCYh02ax4CZcQMDD4h9IHfbjTQGZh7CWurt5zeAtPyrSzcjUsvhxIYDQJK3jTmBCC1sZpIzDI4nbzgM9Atv32HD/WeeMRzGq+X84WcSHyqqbee39x7+zPOtTl6yPY3xMU8Fbi0IwMyDYB8gRgMQ8BBWMgpGwSgYBSMTAAB7x0fY71LxKgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9758-8709","institution":"Wageningen University \u0026 research","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicholaas","middleName":"Milliano","lastName":"Pinas","suffix":""},{"id":377091841,"identity":"877e7386-0251-46eb-835c-7a69399daa3c","order_by":1,"name":"Marieke van de Loosdrecht","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wageningen University \u0026 Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marieke","middleName":"van","lastName":"de Loosdrecht","suffix":""},{"id":377091842,"identity":"1c440bc2-a64e-43ff-94e9-f855b0c83dc5","order_by":2,"name":"Eric Schranz","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6777-6565","institution":"Wageningen University \u0026 Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eric","middleName":"","lastName":"Schranz","suffix":""},{"id":377091843,"identity":"a3242284-a3bd-46ca-9282-7316c8250c0a","order_by":3,"name":"Tinde van Andel","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4951-1894","institution":"Naturalis Biodiversity Center","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tinde","middleName":"van","lastName":"Andel","suffix":""},{"id":377091844,"identity":"6f836593-ed8f-40d3-b2bb-0d376c273ed5","order_by":4,"name":"Harro Maat","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7338-7910","institution":"Wageningen University \u0026 Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Harro","middleName":"","lastName":"Maat","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-11-12 09:51:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5438376/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5438376/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":69760199,"identity":"f36ff19b-2d51-4ad5-87f5-96a1a5bd3f15","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:32:17","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":18223882,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMap showing the Maroon villages in Suriname and French Guiana where farmers were interviewed. 1: Santigron, 2: Paranam, 3: Wanhatti, 4: Ricanau Mofo, 5: Peto Ondo, 6: Peto Hills, 7: Anunu Kampu, 8: Mana Pasi St Laurent, 9: Cayenne Pasi, 10: St Jean Pasi, 11: Bigiston, 12: Moengo, 13: Portal Island, 14: Manjabon, 15: Lemikibon, 16: New Libi, 17: Sparouine, 18: St Laurent du Maroni, 19: Amana Pasi, 20: Crique Margot, 21: Da Bana Pasi, 22: Nason, 23: Kamp Wadaa, 24: Loka Loka, 25: Djakitabiki, 26: Beiman Crique, 27: Danapukampu, 28: Tabiki, 29: Malobi, 30: Gran Santi, 31: Mamaaikampu, 32: Amana Skin, 33: Konsi, 34: Gonini Kiiki, 35: Mofina, 36: Mooi Taki, 37: Diitabiki, 38: Godo Olo, 39: Dangogo 2, 40: Kajana, 41: Ston Uku, 42: Godo Wata, 43: Be Goong, 44: Awai, 45: Somesudu, 46: Mi kon wai, 47: Palulu Basu, 48: Asidonhopo, 49: Semoisie, 50: Pikin Slee, 51: Pusugrunu, 52: Boslanti, 53: Pambooko, 54: Dantabai Pasi, 55: Tamanredjo, 56: Pokigron, 57: Bakaa Boto, 58: Duwata, 59: Brokopondo Centrum, 60: Tapoeripa, 61: Comsarsikondre, 62: Afobakaweg.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/4cf74a65e7e0da1653b51115.png"},{"id":69760201,"identity":"95a07213-eb0b-4014-97d4-fb4eab6ab02d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:32:18","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":2050956,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eField preparation. A. Okanisi farmer Carlos Pinas and his cousin cleaned their field on a dry peat swamp in the Cottica area. The intact swamp forest is visible in the distance. B. A cleaned and burned field near Brokopondo centrum.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/d46c68c995ffd32d16a8663e.png"},{"id":69760011,"identity":"5cee5a48-ec3a-44c4-8dea-897ac3813593","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:24","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":2147756,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMaroon provision fields in the forest around the Saamaka village Pikien Slee (upper Suriname River). Brown circles represent a farmer's field, and pale green circles are abandoned fields growing back to a secondary forest. The primary forest is dark green. Source: Google Earth.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/5a569dd1b84e34998d6c31ef.png"},{"id":69760004,"identity":"f5e1665b-f51d-401c-905d-40dec498570a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:22","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1249660,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDifferent storage methods in Maroon communities. A. covered oil drums in St. Laurent, French Guiana. B. wooden granary in Ston uku, Suriname. C. granary made from corrugated iron in Kayana, Suriname.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/3b63798ef04aea32e9805633.png"},{"id":69760008,"identity":"1a52d4e5-39a8-46a5-8e6e-e9f18a72e7ab","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":4336864,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eAnne Huur inspecting plant material with her cousin Marie, a few days before sowing rice.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig5.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/d8deb34a734cafc8f1e1052b.jpg"},{"id":69759978,"identity":"4ec7de49-fc2c-47e2-a87e-3f9c15ce8ac5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:16","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1930974,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eViolin density plots for the number of rice varieties found among farmers when grouped for the four Maroon groups (A) and the five major river basins in the Guianas (B). The tables report the statistical test values for the pairwise Dunn’s Tests (Z-scores), and their unadjusted and Bonferroni multiple-correction adjusted P-values. P-values ≤ 0.05 indicate a statistically significant difference between the medians of the groups. Asterisks alternatively indicate the strength of the statistical significance: * ≤ 0.05, ** ≤ 0.01, *** ≤ 0.001, **** ≤ 0.0001. Only pairwise comparisons with P-values ≤ 0.05, or adjacent, are shown.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/b54c7d9fa2201247247c3cca.png"},{"id":69760002,"identity":"820bd182-8cfc-4f6d-915a-68089233bad2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:22","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1458060,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMaroon sowing methods. A: Seed selection by pre-soaking: unsuitable seeds and empty husks float to the surface. B: Covering rice seeds with soil with a hoe.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/6c4a0a2c9aee0c627338e83b.png"},{"id":69759980,"identity":"eecc8953-4bfc-43da-9cec-9289029f7c65","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:17","extension":"jpg","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":6467896,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMatawai farmer Sonja Henkie and her nieces harvest rice along the upper Saramacca River. Panicles are at the height of the women’s hands.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig8.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/edf93aad618d89cd90c996e6.jpg"},{"id":69759985,"identity":"dd41e43b-b552-46e8-9fe2-aedc6b209626","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:17","extension":"jpg","order_by":9,"title":"Figure 9","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":3365636,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMaroon rice harvest tools. A. Kitchen knife. B. handmade tool for children.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig9.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/be5d68b01630796ef715ff8b.jpg"},{"id":69759995,"identity":"cbbd505f-44f3-4c79-90d9-6795919971ee","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:21","extension":"jpg","order_by":10,"title":"Figure 10","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":6623420,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFreshly harvested rice in Nieuw Lombe, lower Suriname River, showing the strips of banana leaf used to tie the bundles.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig10.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/757d6d4651df71756b9d7509.jpg"},{"id":69759991,"identity":"0decdcdf-f55c-4316-9cdb-84bef5cd1db9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:20","extension":"png","order_by":11,"title":"Figure 11","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1322815,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRice processing. The mortar (A) and pestle (B) are common tools. C. Albertina Adjako winnowing rice in a wooden tray.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig11.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/683cab8d95ad35ec3c897141.png"},{"id":69761001,"identity":"98db2204-5a2c-4627-b4fa-1c6d99c8e75a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:40:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":89528163,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/5d689c74-890b-4dad-a006-60b934262e43.pdf"},{"id":69759982,"identity":"b230f30e-1a6d-431a-9a76-96738079fa23","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-25 04:24:17","extension":"xlsx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":12311,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"supplementaryfile.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5438376/v1/9ed9928c8da700cff378598c.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom Field to Plate: the Chain of Operation in Maroon Rice Cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe interior of Suriname and French Guiana is a dense forest area inhabited by indigenous peoples and Maroons. A common feature of these two groups is the way they grow their food, using a farming method known as shifting cultivation. Farming with this method implies creating a new field, known as a swidden, by slashing and burning trees and other vegetation, after which it is used for a variety of crops for one to three growing seasons. Differences between the farming methods of these groups are provided from either cultural or ecological perspectives. Anthropologists have studied the cultures of these groups, primarily focusing on the various Maroon sub-groups, highlighting cultural differences, and how these relate to certain routines and products from farming, hunting, and fishing (de Groot \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e; Price \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e). The ecological perspective is prominent in studies from agronomists and forestry experts, highlighting how shifting cultivation affects soil fertility and forest recovery. With few exceptionsthese studies typically reiterate ecological stereotypes about shifting cultivation (Lobach, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this paper, we take a closer look at the shifting cultivation activities of the Maroon groups. Growing rice on swiddens distinguishes Maroons from the indigenous groups who do not have a rice-growing tradition. Moreover, rice has been commonly grown by all Maroon sub-groups, from the early years of their formation until today. For the Maroons, rice is a cultural marker crop or what ethnobotanists call a cultural keystone species (Garibaldi and Turner, 2004). A focus on rice thus helps to create a distinction between the main groups practicing shifting cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana without falling back on ecological stereotypes as well as avoiding the more scattered characterizations of food and farming resulting from ethnographies of Maroon subgroups.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe close interaction between rice cultivation and the value system of Maroon groups can be described as a chain of operation. Also known as the original French concept \u003cem\u003echa\u0026icirc;ne op\u0026eacute;ratoire\u003c/em\u003e, it offers an analytical tool for recording and breaking down a complex process into step-by-step actions that bring raw material from a natural to a manufactured state (Coupaye \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Cresswell \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1976\u003c/span\u003e). Applied to farming communities, a chain of operation also represents the way of life, traditions, and nature of subsistence of communities and how their farm operation is embedded in wider networks of knowledge and technologies (Bray \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Coupaye \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaroons are descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped slavery and built societies in remote places in the forested hinterlands that were difficult to reach for colonial governments and soldiers (de Groot \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e). With their newfound freedom, Maroons practiced agriculture based on their knowledge of farming as brought from Africa by their enslaved ancestors, adapted and extended on plantations, and from contacts with Indigenous groups (Elfrink et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Fleury \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Maat et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Maroon societies developed their agriculture without the direct involvement of the Dutch colonial authorities, and later the Surinamese and French governments. Contact between Maroons and the authorities has been limited for centuries to special occasions, such as the exchange of trade goods and the installments of postholders (Price \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e; Thoden van Velzen \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNowadays, Suriname and French Guiana encompass six Maroon groups: the Saamaka (estimated population size\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;82,500), Okanisi or Ndjuka (~\u0026thinsp;82,500), Matawai (~\u0026thinsp;6,800), Pamakka (~\u0026thinsp;11,000), Aluku or Boni (~\u0026thinsp;11,000) and Kwinti (~\u0026thinsp;1,000). Most of them still live in the forested interior of both countries, but the majority of the Matawai and Kwinti have migrated to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname (Price \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRice is one of the staple crops in all Maroon communities and farmers grow many genetically different varieties (van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). Maroon rice farming has also been viewed as primitive in post-colonial times. Budelman and Ketelaar (1974) stated that the Maroon dryland rice varieties were not suitable for permanent cultivation, and proposed that they should be replaced by wetland rice varieties that were more profitable for trading and export. Nascente and Kromocardi (2016) stated that rice yields were low and problematic for the Maroons and insufficient to meet their demand. They advised replacing their traditional varieties with modern Brazilian rice cultivars to increase grain yield and ensure food security, which would need costly inputs of fertilizers and herbicides. Despite the criticism of Maroon agriculture from governments and agronomists over the past decades (Lobach \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), Maroons continued growing rice. Today, some farmers still maintain up to 20 different landraces on one field, some of which go back to the early days of marronage\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;375 years ago (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e, van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHere we focus on the chain of operation for rice farming in Saamaka, Okanisi, Matawai, and Pamakka villages. We will look into the techniques, knowledge, tools, crop diversity, seasonality, beliefs, cultural activities, division of labor, pest management, and processing methods. Based on the scantly available literature, we will analyze whether the Maroons have changed their agricultural practices over time.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2017, 2021, 2022, and 2023, we interviewed 99 farmers (three men and 96 women) using semi-structured questionnaires. We collected rice varieties kept in storage or grown on the fields from 106 farmers (three men and 103 women): seven Matawai, 58 Okanisi, five Pamakka, and 36 Saamaka. For an overview of our sampling locations, see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e We obtained verbal consent from each farmer and written permission from the traditional Maroon authorities for our field research. We asked farmers how many varieties they had, and how they obtained them. We observed the clearing, burning, sowing, and harvesting of several fields. We asked for information about rice harvesting and processing of rice, and the role of gender and age groups in these activities. We also spoke with two commercial Maroon rice farmers (both men) who cultivated rice in small monocultures for the market in Paramaribo. Data on typical Maroon rice dishes were retrieved from Ising (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Farmers were compensated for their time spent with the researchers. Living rice seeds have been deposited at the SNRI/ADRON rice gene bank in Nickerie, Suriname, and the Svalbard Seed Vault in Norway. Rice plant specimens have been deposited at the National Herbarium of Suriname in Paramaribo (BBS), and Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden (L), the Netherlands.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eStatistical tests to examine differences in the number of rice varieties among Maroon groups and river basins were conducted in Rstudio with Base-R v.4.3.2. Using the Shapiro-Wilk Normality Test (\u003cem\u003eshapiro.test()\u003c/em\u003e) from the \u003cem\u003estats\u003c/em\u003e package v.3.6.2 we found that the data shows a non-normal distribution (W\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.88, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7.38 x 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;8\u003c/sup\u003e). The data was grouped and the means, medians, and standard deviations were calculated (see Supplementary Table SX.A), and visualized with violin density plots using the \u003cem\u003eggplot(), geom_violin()\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003egeom_dotplot()\u003c/em\u003e functions from the \u003cem\u003eggplot2\u003c/em\u003e package v.3.5.1. Subsequently, we investigated using nonparametric tests whether the rice diversity differs between Maroon groups and river basins. We detected a significant effect for both these factors with a Kruskall-Wallis Test (\u003cem\u003eKruskal. test()\u003c/em\u003e function, \u003cem\u003estats\u003c/em\u003e package), and subsequently we applied the Dunn\u0026rsquo;s Test with a Bonferroni correction (\u003cem\u003edunnTest() function\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFSA\u003c/em\u003e package) to test the medians for all pairwise combinations of the Maroon groups, and river basin groups, respectively.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eField selection\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSelecting the best possible location for a new field every year is crucial to rice production. Albert Aboikoni, paramount chief of the Saamaka Maroons, explained that his forefathers divided the forest so every family had an area where their descendants could open a farm field. Naali Ongobe, a Saamaka rice farmer said that during the rainy season in May, June, and July, people go into the forest searching for suitable areas for a new field. \u0026ldquo;In the rainy season, the water levels are high, and we can see where our crops will survive in the forest. A good field location is partially wet and partially dry at that moment\u0026rdquo;. For rice varieties that need wet soil, patches are chosen close to a small creek, while for those that prefer better-drained soil, a non-flooded part is selected. However, fields are also chosen for their suitability to grow cassava, plantains, and other crops. In the past, before a new field was opened, Maroons would first consult the local \u003cem\u003eampuku\u003c/em\u003e forest spirit (Price \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e). As they believed that the forest was the domain of these supernatural beings, asking for their permission was necessary. In the documentary \u003cem\u003eStones Have Laws\u003c/em\u003e (van Brummelen and de Haan 2022), Saamaka people showed this ritual: a small patch of forest was cleared where they placed two forked sticks holding a young, manually unfolded palm leaf. If the leaf was still up the next morning the local \u003cem\u003eampuku\u003c/em\u003e had agreed to a new field at that location. If the leaf had fallen, the spirit objected, and they had to search for a new location. We no longer observe or hear about this activity, but we cannot rule out that it is still occasionally practiced. This ritual shows the spiritual significance of the forest to the Maroons and the respect they pay to forest entities to be allowed to farm in their territories.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeveral farmers indicated that the rainforest soil was fertile, so they did not need to measure soil fertility before choosing a field location. Still, they had techniques to test soil quality: a healthy growing watermelon sown as the first crop indicated fertile soil. Another method was to watch how quickly rainwater would drain from a field. Most rice fields we observed were made of brown and white sandy loam. Red laterite soil is used around Brokopondo. Rice fields in peat swamps were only seen in the Cottica area. Occasionally, women grew rice on white sand or clay riverbanks.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSaamaka women in Bataliba, a group of five villages near the southern bank of the Brokopondo Reservoir, occasionally select the banks of the many islands in the lake as rice fields. These soils are rich in organic matter deposited during the rainy season when these islands are flooded. These banks often become exposed during the dry season and become overgrown with weeds, which are burnt to make rice fields. These areas need less clearing as there are no trees that need to be felled. However, by farming on these island banks, farmers risk losing the harvest when the water level rises unexpectedly and kills the rice plants. Saamaka farmer Mai Kaise explained that these rice fields were not available every year, as it depended on the water level during the dry season. \u0026ldquo;What we plant are the common rice varieties that we use every year, and they grow well on both dry soil and flooded land. As long as the culm is above the water, it ripens. We harvest it while standing in the water\u0026rdquo; (Supplementary file, video 1). In 2020, the Bataliba farmers had a good harvest (Supplementary file, video 2), but in 2021, water levels were very high. Even the fields on dry land were somewhat flooded. Farmers saw that the water level in the lake was already quite high during the sowing season, so they decided not to sow rice on the islands. In March 2022, they did plant rice on the island shores, but the water levels became unexpectedly high during harvest time (NOS 2022), so they lost all their crops.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOkanisi farmer Sonia Sini (Lawa River, French Guiana) was one of the few who made her field on a riverbank. She said it was very fertile soil due to annual sediment deposits from the river. Her rice harvest from a small field was enough for a whole year and she had a surplus to sell on the local market. Although she had to wait until the water level dropped before planting, she said: \u0026ldquo;This soil is cold, so crops also grow well in the dry and hot season\u0026rdquo;. In spite of the high yields on riverbanks, few farmers were willing to take the risk of flooded fields.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eField preparation\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the past, after the \u003cem\u003eampuku\u003c/em\u003e forest spirit gave his permission to create a new field, men would start clearing the undergrowth of the forest with machetes and cut down trees with axes (Price \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1983\u003c/span\u003e, Herskovits and Herskovits \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1934\u003c/span\u003e). We observed Maroon men creating new fields by felling large trees with chainsaws (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eA) and using machetes to clear shrubs and small trees.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe process of creating a field in the primary forest around Santigron that we observed took approximately four months. The men started cleaning the undergrowth in July, in August trees were felled, in September the field was burned, and in October all the remaining shrubs and sticks were placed on a heap and burned again. Charred tree stumps and logs lying on the ground are seldom removed, a common practice in slash-and-burn farming, as they slowly release nutrients to the crops (Kleinman et al. 1995).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFallow periods\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn most Maroon communities, fields are cultivated for two years, after which a new one is created. Abandoned fields will be left to grow back into secondary forests, from which some remaining fruits and cassava roots are occasionally harvested. After the soil fertility has been restored for at least five to 10 years it is opened again. A decade ago, Fleskens and Jorritsma (2010) noted that Saamaka farmers in Nieuw Lomb\u0026eacute; had shorter fallow periods leading to less soil fertility, and extrapolated this to the entire Maroon community. Although we did not ask all farmers, no one indicated using shorter fallow periods than before or complained about the loss of soil fertility. Most farmers preferred a field in the primary forest because those were more fertile than those in secondary forests. Satellite images show a mosaic of provision fields in different stages of regrowth around Maroon villages (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSome farmers had fields up to 10 km from the village, with small sheds in which they could sleep over if needed. John Jackson, a Saamaka representative in the Netherlands, said that as a child in the 1960s, he lived for months with his family in a small house on the fields, combining the harvest of rice and other crops with hunting and fishing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSeed selection and storage\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGenerally, farmers start with seed selection during the harvest. Every farmer keeps some of the best stock of her harvest as plant material for the next season. For every variety, at least two bundles or a 2-liter soft drink bottle are kept in an old oil drum covered with a lid to prevent insects and rodents from damaging the grains (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003eA). Shattering rice varieties are stored as loose grains in glass bottles or small plastic bags. A plastic drum or large plastic bags were not ideal for storing rice: because of condensation, the rice could become moldy. Another way of storing rice, more adapted to large quantities, is special granaries called \u003cem\u003ek\u0026euml;́d\u0026euml;́ \u0026oacute;su\u003c/em\u003e (Saamaka) or \u003cem\u003epikin osu\u003c/em\u003e (Pamakka), which are built on pillars to prevent rodents and snakes from entering. We encountered sheds made from wood and corrugated iron; the latter were said to be more durable (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003eB and \u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003eC). Seeds selected for sowing can be kept for approximately one year in a granary or oil drum.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOne farmer complained that she gave plant material to a neighbor who had lost her seeds, but that woman consumed all and did not sow it. This was seen as unacceptable: the availability of seed stock is seen as a social security system. Marie Huur, a farmer in Pokigron (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e), explained that she always kept a bundle of each variety for family members and friends in case they lost their rice for whatever reason. Most farmers said they would ask their family or neighbors for sowing material when they had lost their rice. Cottica farmers told us that many of their rice varieties were lost when they had to flee their territory during Suriname\u0026rsquo;s Civil War (1986\u0026ndash;1992). They spent years in refugee camps in French Guiana and were not allowed to make provision fields. Some farmers worked illegally in rice fields for the Hmong, refugees of the Vietnam War who settled in French Guiana (Hoogbergen and Polim\u0026eacute; 2002; van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). After the war, when farmers returned to Suriname, they took the Hmong rice along and depended on gifts from other Maroon communities to build a new rice stock.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eJohn Jackson explained that in his youth, a storage method existed that could preserve rice for longer than a year, and was interconnected with the mourning traditions in this village. When a paramount chief passed away, women were not allowed to visit rice fields for three months, even if this coincided with the sowing period, as it was believed they would lose their rice. \u0026ldquo;To prevent the rice from losing its germination ability, they would open a \u003cem\u003egoloe\u003c/em\u003e calabash (\u003cem\u003eLagenaria siceraria\u003c/em\u003e) and dry it well. Then they would place the rice seeds in it together with charcoal. They closed the \u003cem\u003egoloe\u003c/em\u003e and stored it in the granary, but took out the seeds every month, dried them again in the sun, and placed them back in the \u003cem\u003egoloe\u003c/em\u003e. This method kept the seeds longer viable\u0026rdquo;. This method indicates that losing rice seeds had to be avoided at all costs. We did not encounter this practice anymore: farmers could not remember it. Although these mourning restrictions are still in place, women can now easily buy rice in shops or travel to open a rice field further away from the village.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eMaintaining rice diversity\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeveral Maroon rice varieties have morphological traits that are regarded as problematic in commercial agriculture, such as itching leaves, hairy husks, or prickly awns that irritate the hands when touched. Half of the varieties we collected had hairy husks. Many varieties had anthocyanins, a blue ink-like liquid that stains the hands when the stem is cut. This was not seen as an undesirable trait.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe median number of rice varieties among all Maroon farmers we interviewed was 5.4, ranging from one to 20 (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e). The Saamaka cultivate a significantly larger number of varieties (median\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;8) than the Okanisi (median\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003eadjusted\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e = 8.53 x 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;9\u003c/sup\u003e) and Pamakka (median\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003eadjusted\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e = 1.59 x 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003eA). One reason mentioned by Okanisi and Pamakka farmers is that they produced \u003cem\u003ekwak\u003c/em\u003e (a dry cereal-like food made from toasted bitter cassava) as their main staple food. Rice diversity appears to be particularly high along the Suriname River basin (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003eB). Saamaka farmer Okinta Main from Pikin Rio maintained 20 varieties and knew all the names of her varieties and the place or person she received them from. The Okanisi farmers in Tapoeripa, in the same river basin, have the highest rice diversity of all Okanisi with 12 varieties in one field.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile Asian rice is mostly cultivated for consumption, African rice is grown for cultural, medicinal, and spiritual purposes, although some Maroons eat it as well. Farmers indicated they sowed it as an offering to the forest spirit so they would have an abundant harvest (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSowing methods\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sowing process starts with gathering the rice bundles selected as plant material from the storage. To remove seeds from the stalks, Okanisi and Pamakka farmers place the bundles in old polyethylene bags and invite children to walk on them. Saamaka and Matawai farmers do this differently: they put rice bundles in a wooden mortar and beat it with a pestle until the seeds come off from the panicles. The loose seeds are placed on a large wooden tray and winnowed to remove straw and empty husks, while bad seeds are handpicked and discarded.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOn sowing day, some farmers place seeds in a bucket with water (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003eA), so empty husks and bad seeds that were missed during the winnowing would float on the surface and could be easily removed. However, most farmers do not soak their seeds but sow them directly. This is done by broadcasting, but seeds cannot be left unprotected on the soil as birds will pick them from the ground. To protect against the birds the seeds are covered with soil with a hoe, known in Suriname as \u003cem\u003etjap\u003c/em\u003e (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003eB).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA different sowing method is \u003cem\u003ediki olo\u003c/em\u003e: digging a small hole with a hoe, dropping some seeds in it, and covering it with soil. This method is used to sow small patches of rice between other crops. Hand broadcasting and \u003cem\u003ediki olo\u003c/em\u003e were sometimes used interchangeably. Farmers explained that the preferred method depended on the location of their field. \u0026ldquo;If you plant rice in an area with lots of birds, then you must cover the seeds with soil. If your new field is made in a primary forest, the local birds might not be familiar with rice, so you can sow without covering\u0026rdquo;. Some Okanisi farmers sing a special song on the last day of sowing, in which they mention something that died and they buried in the ground.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSowing season\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuriname has two rainy seasons: the first starts around mid-April and lasts till the end of July and the second starts in December and lasts until the end of March. Sowing is done at the beginning of the rainy season. Okanisi, Aluku, and Pamakka farmers in the southeastern part of the interior (Upper Marowijne, Tapanahoni, and Lawa Rivers), sow rice around December and harvest in April/May. The farmers explained that the weather was too wet in July for rice to ripen and to dry in the sun, so planting a second crop was not possible. The Okanisi along the lower Marowijne River, however, plant rice in April and harvest between July and September, just like the majority of the Saamaka farmers in the Suriname River basin. A few Saamaka farmers along the Suriname River sowed both in December and around April and had two harvests per year.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGenerally, farmers wait for the rain to start before they begin sowing. If the soil is too dry, the seeds do not germinate quickly and birds would eat the soil-covered seeds by removing the dirt with their feet. In wet soil, the seeds would germinate within two to three days, hence minimizing the chances of bird predation. Maroon farmers do not consult the weather forecast for updates on rainfall but instead listen to a local cicada named siksi-yuru \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003e\u003cem\u003eFidicina mannifera\u003c/em\u003e). This insect must stop \u0026lsquo;singing\u0026rsquo; his loud song, which indicates that it will soon start to rain (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAbout 70% of the farmers keep their rice varieties separate in storage and in the fields. Every variety has its patch, so during harvest, it is easy to keep culms of the same variety together. Generally, farmers sow some varieties first (mostly the ones that take long to ripen, such as \u003cem\u003eal\u0026euml;kis\u0026oacute;\u0026oacute;la\u003c/em\u003e) and the shorter ripening ones later. This is done to even out labor during harvest but also prevents outcrossing, as the different varieties flower at separate moments. About 30% of the farmers mix threshed seeds of different varieties in buckets or oil drums, and thus sow and harvest mixtures without separating them. This facilitates crossings between varieties, as they flower next to each other and at the same time. The sowing density of rice seeds differs per individual farmer. In 2023 we measured sowing density in three locations, which ranged from 314 to 448 seeds per square meter.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eAgrochemicals\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter rice seeds have been sown and germinated, farmers regularly inspect the young plants and continue planting other crops, such as okra, plantain, and cassava. The decaying wood and charcoal provide the crops with nutrients as they rot over time. John Jackson explained that this has been the practice of Maroons since they escaped slavery. According to teacher and farmer Norma Main from Pambooko, Upper Suriname River, a newly cut field in a primary rainforest produces the highest rice yields. Rice planted for the second year on the same field has a much lower harvest than that of the first year. This is congruent with the observation that organic material in the soil decreases over time due to leaching out (Kleinman et al. 1995).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe farmers we interviewed were adamant that agrochemicals were not part of their rice cultivation practices. We did not observe the usage of synthetic fertilizers like NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). Neither the governments of Suriname and French Guiana nor NGOs hand out any agrochemicals to the farmers to support them. However, in four fields that we visited, we saw empty Gramoxone bottles lying on the edge of the forest. Gramoxone (paraquat) is a strong herbicide, widely used in coastal Suriname, but prohibited in the European Union because of its toxicity. The farmers said that they used it to kill the grass and weeds in the field before sowing, but they did not use it directly on the rice.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eMitigating pests and diseases\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough we did not ask all farmers, those we asked indicated that they did not have any diseases or pests affecting their rice. Albertina Adjako, the Brokopondo regional farmers\u0026rsquo; coordinator, explained that in the years she has been working in the Maroon community the farmers occasionally complained that parts of their rice fields were not producing well. She said: \u0026ldquo;I advise farmers to keep their rice diversity, use many different varieties, and continue intercropping with other food plants such as okra, banana, cassava, yams, and taro. It is those activities that keep rice plants healthy\u0026rdquo;. Farmers near St. Laurent du Maroni (French Guiana) complained about \u003cem\u003emira udu\u003c/em\u003e, an invasive tree (\u003cem\u003eAcacia mangium\u003c/em\u003e) that was introduced to reforest old mines in French Guiana (Theys et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eMira udu\u003c/em\u003e takes away all the strength of my field, and it does not die when you burn it, it just starts growing again and competes with my rice and cassava. Trees only die when you ringbark them completely\u0026rdquo;, said farmer Maneshka Manu.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom our interviews, we deduce that a recurring problem in Maroon rice cultivation is bird predation. Birds pick freshly sown rice from the ground, attack the grains before they are harvested and break rice culms with their feet when eating from the seeds. In every area, several bird species were active threats. The most common birds mentioned were \u003cem\u003ebaaka ti\u003c/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003epotokii\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eMolothrus bonariensis\u003c/em\u003e), doves (\u003cem\u003eColumbina talpacoti\u003c/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003ePatagioenas cayennensis\u003c/em\u003e), \u003cem\u003eandoki\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eVolatinia jacarina\u003c/em\u003e), and \u003cem\u003eapiikutu\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eForpus passirinus\u003c/em\u003e). Farmers took bird-preventing methods like nets above freshly planted field, shooting birds with catapults or hanging CDs or aluminum pot lids on a thread that would create light flashes or noise in the wind. However, the most frequent answer was: \u0026ldquo;We do nothing because birds don\u0026rsquo;t eat everything\u0026rdquo;. Sometimes, in a laconic way, farmers said: \u0026ldquo;Well, even the birds need to feed\u0026rdquo;. Although some Maroons own guns, they do not use them for the mass killing of birds because they believe the birds also have a part to play in nature. Some Maroons even planted a small patch of black rice for the birds, \u0026ldquo;to distract them from the other varieties\u0026rdquo;. A reason for this attitude may stem from the belief that birds once made (black) rice available to the Maroons by dispersing the seeds in open savannahs that the Maroons crossed during their escape from slavery (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFarmers from the Cottica had a similar positive attitude towards capibaras (\u003cem\u003eHydrochoerus hydrochaeris\u003c/em\u003e), large rodents that live near rivers and swamps. They believed that capibaras helped to increase rice yields: if they fed on young rice, the plants would produce more tillers. This would later increase the rice yield because every tiller would produce a culm with grains. During our fieldwork, we noticed that both awned, hairy, and glabrous Maroon varieties were much less attacked by birds than commercial cultivars (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). However, it remains unclear what other traits Maroon rice plants have that protect against bird predation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eRipening\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFarmers had different ways of identifying when the rice was ripe. In French Guiana, they said that when the tip of the seed changes its color to black, the rice is ready to harvest. A large part of the Maroon rice diversity possesses these distinctly colored tips. Varieties called \u003cem\u003ealulu\u003c/em\u003e are harvested before they are fully ripe because they shatter easily; the seeds drop from the ripe panicle when cutting it. The same is true for African rice (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Varieties called \u003cem\u003ejengejenge\u003c/em\u003e make a particular bell-like sound when the wind goes through the ripe culms of the rice. Birds feeding on the rice is also a sign that it is ready for harvest. However, the most obvious indicator of ripe rice grains is that their color changes from green to brown, orange, or white. Most Maroon rice ripens between 110 days (African rice) and 129 days (\u003cem\u003eal\u0026euml;kis\u0026oacute;\u0026oacute;la\u003c/em\u003e). Small-seeded rice varieties tend to ripe faster than larger-seeded varieties. However, the swamp rice \u003cem\u003emasaa\u003c/em\u003e in the Cottica region may take more than 180 days to ripen (Pinas al. 2024).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eHarvesting\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eHarvesting plays a central role in Maroon rice farming. Since it requires much labor, family members travel back from the city to offer a helping hand. The rice harvest in July-August coincides with the school vacation period in Suriname and French Guiana, which allows for the participation of youngsters. Harvesting is mostly done by groups of women, who often sing traditional and modern songs during their work (Supplementary file, video 1). Given that so many people are working together, rice harvesting strengthens family ties and cultural bonds.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter harvest, rice panicles are sundried for three to four weeks before being placed in storage. At the time of harvest, some grains fall on the ground because harvesting is done manually and some varieties shatter quickly. These fallen grains sprout again and can be reaped in a second harvest three to four months later, known as \u003cem\u003egro baka alisi\u003c/em\u003e. These grains are never included in the planting stock because they tend to be smaller than grains from the first harvest, but they are still consumed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe majority of Maroon rice varieties at maturity have a length between 110 and 177 cm, much taller than commercial rice (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Greta Pinas explained that farmers prefer tall varieties to facilitate manual harvesting: \u0026ldquo;When cutting panicles, we sometimes stand in the field for eight hours. Imagine we would have to bend over all this time! Thus, we prefer standing. We do have varieties that fall [lodge] easily because of the wind (known as \u0026lsquo;\u003cem\u003ewintiwaai\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rsquo;). In that case, we bend to pick up the panicles, but it is only for a short time\u0026rdquo;. Ripe panicles are often exactly located at the height of a woman\u0026rsquo;s hands. Of the 284 unique names for rice varieties that we collected (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), three indicated a short rice variety, with Saamaka names such as \u003cem\u003easindo atapa\u003c/em\u003e (sit down at a table) and \u003cem\u003ebasu alisi\u003c/em\u003e (low rice). Paramount chief Aboikoni explained that the national rice breeding institute SNRI/ADRON gave him some short, high-yielding varieties a while ago to share with the farmers. These may be the same short varieties we collected near his residence. In general, rice names strongly reflect Maroon culture and history. While some \u0026lsquo;old\u0026rsquo; varieties are named after the women who took them along after their flight to freedom, others are named after women in general (\u0026lsquo;dancing woman\u0026rsquo;, \u0026lsquo;white-headed lady\u0026rsquo;), forest animals, morphological characters, or the person or group of runaways who first introduced the variety to a community (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDuring harvest, adults use ordinary kitchen knives (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig9\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003eA) to cut the panicles 15 to 20 cm below the first seeds. Children between 8 and 12 are given wooden knives (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig9\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003eB), made from the petiole of a \u003cem\u003emaripa\u003c/em\u003e palm (\u003cem\u003eAttalea maripa\u003c/em\u003e). We observed that the children's participation is for knowledge transfer purposes (learning how to harvest rice) and not so much workload management. When harvesters have a handful of panicles, they bundle them up and tie them with strips of banana leaf (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig10\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e). Saamaka farmers usually bind five bundles into a larger one locally known as \u003cem\u003ega\u0026aacute;n m\u0026aacute;un\u003c/em\u003e (\u0026lsquo;large hand\u0026rsquo;).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe \u0026lsquo;green\u0026rsquo; rice bundles are placed on metal roofing sheets in the village for a couple of weeks to dry. They are turned once or twice daily so each side faces the sun. Mr. Pai, an Okanisi farmer, explained that his mother used to dry rice in her cooking shed with the heat and smoke from the wood she burned to make a fire. She constructed the roof of her shed with space to place rice bundles on top of the fire. Every two days, she would turn the rice bundles, so they were heated evenly.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFreshly harvested rice excretes a milky substance when the grains are broken. If this liquid no longer shows when the seeds are squeezed, the farmers know that the rice is well-dried. The bundles are placed in their storage facilities (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). Some of the best grains are kept as sowing material for the next season, and the rest is used as food. If there is a food shortage during harvest, and people do not have any more rice in stock from the last season, they soak the freshly harvested bundles in hot water. In this way, the \u0026lsquo;fresh\u0026rsquo; husks are easily removed in a mortar and the rice can directly be cooked and eaten.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eRice Processing\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaroon rice processing consists of six phases: threshing (separation of seeds from the panicle), milling (removing the unpalatable husks from the grain), winnowing (eliminating the husks), manually eliminating bad grains, washing, and cooking. These phases are not the same in all Maroon communities. Okanisi and Pamakka separate the grains from the panicles by spreading them out on a sheet of plastic and mashing them with their bare feet in circular movements until the grains come loose from the panicle (Suppl. file, video 4). Saamaka and Matawai tend to separate rice grains from the panicles by holding the dried rice bundles with one hand in a wooden mortar and pounding it with the other with a pestle (Supplementary file, Video 5). Another method is placing the bundles in a polyethylene bag and beating it with a stick.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Okanisi barefoot threshing is much easier when shattering varieties (known as \u003cem\u003ealulu\u003c/em\u003e) are used. Okanisi frequently grow shattering varieties, but they do not grow varieties with long stiff awns, as they do not like the awns sticking in their feet during threshing. The few awned Okanisi rice types (e.g., \u003cem\u003ekoko tatai\u003c/em\u003e) have soft and brittle awns that break off easily during threshing. In contrast, shattering varieties are hardly grown by Saamaka and Matawai farmers, but they have many stiff-awned varieties (e.g., \u003cem\u003ewatradagu\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eatjakati\u003c/em\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMilling or dehusking, known locally as \u003cem\u003etila\u003c/em\u003e (Saamaka and Okanisi) is done similarly by all Maroons. Women hold the pestle with both hands and pound with increased strength the round side of the pestle on the separated rice seeds (Supplementary file, Video 6). The pounding happens with different levels of velocity and strength. Recently, several villages obtained diesel-generated rice milling machines. Farmers indicated that rice processed by hand is tastier and healthier than milled rice, as more bran (\u003cem\u003egoma\u003c/em\u003e) is left on the grains. However, the rice mills alleviate them from the hard labor necessary for hand-milling rice.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe mortar (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003eA) is often made with wood from \u003cem\u003ekopi\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eGoupia glabra\u003c/em\u003e), \u003cem\u003erode kabbes\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eAndira surinamensis\u003c/em\u003e) or \u003cem\u003ezwarte kabbes\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eDiplotropis purpurea\u003c/em\u003e). Wood from these trees is heavy and does not break easily even when it is hit repeatedly with a heavy pestle. The pestle (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003eB) is known as \u003cem\u003etat\u0026iacute;\u003c/em\u003e (Saamaka, Matawai) or \u003cem\u003etiki\u003c/em\u003e (Okanisi, Pamakka) and is made from the wood locally known as \u003cem\u003ebalata\u003c/em\u003e or \u003cem\u003ebolletrie\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eManilkara bidentata\u003c/em\u003e). Chief Waterberg of Santigron explained that this wood is heavy and does not split easily, making it suitable for pounding rice and grinding groundnuts into peanut butter.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWinnowing rice is done by scooping up grains with their loose husks from the mortar on a flat wooden tray known as \u003cem\u003epa\u0026aacute;tu\u003c/em\u003e (Saamaka, Matawai) or \u003cem\u003etee\u003c/em\u003e (Okanisi, Pamakka). The rice is then thrown in the air so that the wind can blow away the lighter husks, leaving the heavier grain on the wooden tray (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003eC, Supplementary file, Video 6). Some grains from the tray are pounded in the mortar again to remove the remaining husks. Removing the few bad-quality grains is the last phase before the milled grains are rinsed three times to remove husks and debris that were missed during the winnowing. The wooden tray is often made from plank roots of \u003cem\u003epari udu\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eAspidosperma\u003c/em\u003e spp.), \u003cem\u003eingipipa\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eCouratari\u003c/em\u003e spp.), or the wood of the trunk of \u003cem\u003eceder\u003c/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eCedrela odorata\u003c/em\u003e). All rice processing activities take place in the village and are visible to all community members.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec16\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eCooking and offering\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eMost Maroon rice is consumed daily with a sauce containing vegetables and fish or meat. Special Maroon rice dishes, such as peanut rice, \u003cem\u003emaip\u0026aacute; s\u0026iacute;i al\u0026iacute;si\u003c/em\u003e (rice cooked in maripa palm fat), coconut-rice porridge, and \u003cem\u003eadant\u0026aacute;mataka\u003c/em\u003e (rice, coconut, and peanut dumplings) are mostly served during funerals and festivities to end the mourning period (Ising \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Saamaka and Matawai tend to consume more rice than Okanisi and Pamakka, as the latter also have \u003cem\u003ekwak\u003c/em\u003e (granulated and toasted cassava) as a staple food. Many Maroon farmers told us that during funerals and festivities around the mourning period, which are attended by many people, one needs to bring home-grown Maroon rice. This is then hand-processed during the communal cooking activities (Ising, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Several Okanisi farmers said their only reason to grow rice was to attend funerals. Raw and cooked rice is also used for offerings to the ancestors and other spirits. Maroons generally believe that their ancestors preferred home-grown rice and would be offended by store-bought rice. African rice is not used for cooking during festivities, but husked seeds are thrown in the coffin of the deceased so his/her spirit can pay for its passage to the afterlife (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; van Andel and Ruysschaert, 2011). In the past, Saamaka women offered rice to the spirit of fertility shortly before their marriage (Herskovits and Herskovits \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1934\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eGender division of labor\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn general, activities related to rice cultivation were assigned according to gender (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). We encountered only three men cultivating rice, who were either single or their wives permanently stayed in the city. We did not hear of any women felling trees or burning fields. Even those without husbands hired young men to prepare a field or asked family members to help them.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eActivities within Maroon rice farming and the gender that mostly performs it\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eActivity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGender and age division\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eField selection\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMen and women\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCutting and burning a field in the forest\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMen, adolescent boys\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eField preparation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMen, boys, women\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeed selection and storage\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSowing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen, adolescents\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eField management\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHarvesting\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen, children, adolescents\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRice processing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen, children\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCooking\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWomen, girls\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTool making\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMen, adolescent boys\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA married woman cannot borrow tools used for rice processing from her neighbors, as these should have been made by her husband. An unmarried woman or widow is helped by close relatives. Chief Waterberg of Santigron explained that Maroons live in communities with relatives nearby, who are willing to help. Boys are trained by their fathers and uncles in toolmaking for their future wives. Nowadays, one can also buy these tools because every Maroon woman must have them.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTeenagers, irrespective of gender, were often tasked with covering rice grains with soil after sowing (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003eB). Harvesting was done in rotation: all healthy females, girls, and boys in the age group 8 to 18 years partake in the fields of family members, such as grandmothers, mothers, and aunts. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e shows the importance of learning, inter-generational, and gender-based activities. By practicing and learning about rice harvesting, young people are reminded of the importance of social relations and Maroon culture. Although women do most of the farm work and cooking, it is not hidden from men or other community members.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaroon women have the key role of keeping the diversity of their rice stock intact. They are also tasked with organizing labor for all the activities happening in their field, processing and cooking rice. If we asked Maroon men about rice varieties, they said they knew very little about the names of rice, and referred us directly towards women, as they were seen as the experts. The fact that rice varieties are seldom named after men, but very often after women (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) also reflects the key role of women in maintaining diversity and selecting new stock.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eMotivations to grow rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe most frequently mentioned motivations of farmers to keep a rice field were food security, independence, and the ability to attend funeral-related activities. The expensive shop rice and the better taste, quality, and health aspects of Maroon rice also played a role, as well as continuing the ancestral. Farmer Mazo Kaise from Bataliba explained that as a Maroon woman, she could not come to a funeral or mourning ceremony with store-bought rice. Many farmers said that rice farming is their way of connecting and continuing the practices they inherited from their ancestors. Although evangelical churches prohibit people from attending rice offerings, some people said they were \u0026ldquo;church people\u0026rdquo; but still cultivated African rice, and some continued cultivating it for commercial purposes. While rice farming is widespread in the Saamaka, Matawai, and some Okanisi communities, it is dwindling in the Pamakka community. They said they farmed far less rice than before and had few fields and varieties left. This had to do with the focus on gold mining of youngsters in the community and Brazilian miners in the region who preferred to purchase \u003cem\u003ekwak\u003c/em\u003e from farmers instead of rice. One village elder said the recent accidents with Pamakka gold miners were caused by their disregard for the forest spirits.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec20\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eComparing past and present practices\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough Maroon farming practices have been sparsely described before, we could detect some changes during the last decades or century. Chainsaws, diesel-powered rice mills, and corrugated iron granaries were hardly used before the 1990s. Most men do not collaborate anymore in large groups to clear each other\u0026rsquo;s fields (De Beet and Sterman 1981), as those who are working in the mining or logging industry do not always have time to return to the community to clear a field for their wives. They now hire men who are residing in the village to assist with this practice. In the past, people lived with their families on their provision fields for three months. Johan Spalburg, a government postholder and missionary among the Okanisi along the Tapanahoni River, complained that entire families disappeared from his church and school during the rice harvest period in July (Spalburg 1896\u0026ndash;1900). Nowadays this appears no longer the case because the children must attend school. Currently, rice is also no longer harvested in July in the Tapanahoni area, only in April.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFarmers have always been open to experimenting with new rice varieties. The cultivar Rexora was introduced in 1939 and readily adopted (Van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024), but varieties that did not perform well must have disappeared. Maroons can be seen as custodians of rice, as they maintain the rice that reflects their own history, but also grow rice that other ethnic groups in the Guianas (e.g., Hmongh, Javanese) may have lost. Some varieties have vanished in one community but are still present in other communities. Also, new varieties are adopted in one community but not [yet] in the others. The prevailing view is that Maroon farming is limited to upland varieties (\u003cem\u003ehoogland rijst\u003c/em\u003e) that require drained soils (Sewnarain \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), but we collected several wetland rice varieties planted along creek edges, and in the Cottica deep swamp varieties are popular.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec21\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eDifferences between Maroon groups\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe noticed differences in agricultural seasons between the upper Marowijne basin (rice harvest in April), the coastal area (harvest in July-September), and the upper Suriname River basin (sometimes both seasons). This may be caused by differences in rainfall, a reason given by the farmers, or because Okanisi and Pamakka farmers rely less on rice as a staple food and prefer to produce \u003cem\u003ekwak\u003c/em\u003e. We also noted that differences in threshing methods (barefoot versus sticks) influence the varieties that are cultivated (shattering or awned) or vice versa. Names of rice varieties differ substantially between Maroon groups and reflect their separate histories of escape from slavery and adaptation to the Amazonian environment (Pinas et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Maroon rice has a rich genetic diversity: varieties with origins in West Africa, Asia and early rice breeding stations in the USA (van de Loosdrecht et al. 2024). Further research is needed to analyse genetic differences in rice between Maroon groups.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe size of rice fields and the number of rice varieties per farmer were highest among the Saamaka along the upper Suriname River basin and among the Okanisi in Tapoeripa, although these communities also had access to store-bought rice. The lowest diversity and smallest rice fields were seen in the Cottica and among the Pamakka. Both groups spent less time and effort to grow rice than in the past. The Cottica Okanisi lost much of their rice in the civil war but kept their unique deep swamp rice and the Hmong rice. The Pamakka had shifted to commercial \u003cem\u003ekwak\u003c/em\u003e production but also lamented the decline in rice farming.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec22\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eCommercialization of Maroon rice\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe majority of farmers grow rice for consumption within their households. Self-sufficiency has been central in Maroon communities for centuries (Maat et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Nonetheless, we also encountered two commercial Maroon rice farmers (both men) who had huge rice fields and hired local Maroon women to do the manual work. These two commercial farmers mostly grew rice in monocultures: one grew \u003cem\u003ealekisola\u003c/em\u003e and the other used modern Brazilian cultivars and agrochemicals. They sold their rice as \u0026lsquo;Maroon rice\u0026rsquo; in Paramaribo. In St. Laurent (French Guiana), there is a lack of agricultural land due to urbanization. As a result, the few Maroon women who have rice fields often sell their harvest on the city market, where it is bought by urban Maroons who either consume it or take it to funerals. Bags of unmilled Asian and African rice are sold at markets in Paramaribo to people of various ethnicities to use in offerings.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec23\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eDifferences between Maroon agriculture and other shifting cultivation practices\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe shifting cultivation techniques of Maroons, such as clearing, burning, and leaving burned material to provide nutrients, are quite similar to those described for local Indigenous communities (Idoe \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e) and also more or less similar to the traditional shifting cultivation systems in African countries, as long as they take place on similar rainforest soils (Stromgaard \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1985\u003c/span\u003e). Rice cultivation in mangrove swamps of the Upper Guinea region, however, is very different and requires much more manual labor to drain and desalinate the heavy clay soils (Temudo 2012). The differences between Maroon and indigenous agriculture in Suriname and French Guiana lie mostly in the crops and varieties that they cultivate. Maroons have rice at the center of their farming system, which leads to unique practices, while ndigenous farms probably contain a higher diversity of cassava (Idoe, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e), although these indigenous crop varieties have not been studied in detail for Suriname and French Guiana.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec24\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eThe cultural importance of rice for Maroons\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor Maroons, rice is an essential food, but also plays a role in rituals, funeral activities, mourning ceremonies, medicines, and offerings. The diversity of rice selected for this wide range of purposes makes the Maroon rice farming system unique. Rice can be considered a cultural keystone crop for Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana: it meets most of the criteria mentioned by Garibaldi and Turner (2004). Its intense and multiple uses, complicated naming system, role in ancestor narratives, ceremonies, songs, and memory, the difficulty and reluctance to replace it with store-bought rice, and the extent to which it provides opportunities for earning income all provide evidence for its status as cultural marker. Most information on plantations in Suriname highlights crops such as plantain, cassava, and taro as the main food crops (Maat et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Although there is early evidence of experimenting with rice plantations (Elfrink et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), rice never became the main staple on plantations. For Maroons, growing rice was key to their survival as free individuals and still is a marker of cultural difference. Seed selection, storage, processing, and cooking are activities that are done in the village and between growing seasons. This highlights the cyclical aspect of farming but also shows the connection between fields and villages, on-farm and off-farm. Although women do most of the farm work and cooking, the significance is not hidden from men and other community members. Other Maroon crops may have similar or different cultural connections, but this research still needs to be done.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec25\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003ePressures\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe encountered many highly motivated young farmers who expressed they would continue farming as long as possible. Nonetheless, this does not mean there is no pressure on Maroon rice farming. Many youngsters are focusing on other ways of life such as gold mining, searching for higher education in cities like Paramaribo and Cayenne, or migrating to Europe. Christianity, and especially the evangelical churches, despise food offerings and label traditional Afro-Surinamese beliefs as \u0026lsquo;heathen practices\u0026rsquo;, which may also affect Maroon rice cultivation. On the other hand, the increasing costs of living in Suriname French Guiana have also stimulated Maroons to grow (and sell) more of their own food.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eOur study indicates that food security, sovereignty, taste, cultural, and spiritual traditions have been the main drivers behind Maroon rice farming for the past 350 years. The chain of operations in rice farming is complex and differs slightly among communities, ethnic groups, and geographic locations. Contrasting with the view of Maroon farming being primitive and ineffective, our findings advocate for a different perspective. Changes made to the Amazon forest by Maroon agriculture are small compared to those caused by mining and logging companies. Wherever humans settled they made changes to the environment to meet daily needs. Sustainable use of the forest does not mean that nothing has to be cut down or used, it simply means that we treat the forest so that future generations are allowed to use nature as we do now. This has worked out well with the Maroons, given that several communities have been in the same place for over 300 years. Maroons can be seen as custodians of rice, preserving varieties over centuries but also adopting relevant new ones. Rice can be considered a cultural keystone crop of the Maroons, as it is strongly linked to their identity, oral history, and spirituality, but these links differ between communities and ethnic groups. While in some communities flourishing rice fields are omnipresent, in other communities, they are hardly seen.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec27\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eStatement and Declarations\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eFunding declaration\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis research was financially supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (grant nr. OCENW.Klein.419).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;All participants gave oral consent during our interviews and making of the photographs.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was financed by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (OCENW.Klein.419). The authors thank the staff of the SNRI/ADRON, the National Herbarium Suriname (BBS), and all Maroon farmers and collaborators.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding declaration\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis research was financially supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (grant nr. OCENW.Klein.419).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interest\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBray F (2020) Thinking with diagrams: the cha\u0026icirc;ne op\u0026eacute;ratoire and the transmission of technical knowledge in chinese agricultural texts. 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Bri, Leiden\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Dutch Research Council","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Maroons, Rice diversity, Seed management, Agriculture","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5438376/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5438376/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMaroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped slavery between 1650 and 1863 in Suriname, have a unique rice farming system. Rice is one of their main staple crops, but although previously framed as primitive and destructive, Maroon agriculture has never been studied in detail. Here we analyze the chain of operation of Maroon rice farming, the sequence of activities instrumental in reaching a desired goal, rice production. We interviewed Maroon 99 farmers and collected rice varieties from 106 farmers. We asked about their personal and cultural motivations to cultivate rice, their varieties, how they obtained them, the sequence of farming activities, and the role of men, women, and adolescents during these activities. The operation chain is complex and differs slightly among communities and the areas where they reside. Practices are influenced by seasonality, local environmental conditions, personal conditions, religion, and ethnicity. In Maroon rice farming, the main goal is to maintain food security, sovereignty, and cultural identity, not only in the short term but also in the distant future. As such, our results contrast with previous research that has described Maroon farming practices as inferior, static, and lacking ecological connection to the land.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"From Field to Plate: the Chain of Operation in Maroon Rice Cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-25 04:23:42","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5438376/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"bd919af2-65ad-4dbc-a1a2-3c633801f358","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 25th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":40140703,"name":"Agricultural Engineering"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-11-25T04:23:42+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-25 04:23:42","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5438376","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5438376","identity":"rs-5438376","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}