The proliferating public interest in conservation can be explored by monitoring what people say and what people do on social media platforms. YouTube is one of the resources for digital conservation studies as the users are allowed to archive and share content. Meanwhile, networks visualization provided by computer software is powerful to preserve vernacular languages since text(s) tagging is one of the main processes in gaining data. The present study aims to answer research questions using a transdisciplinary approach to sociology, ethnobotany, and communication science. Thus, this research enquires; (a) how might conservation of Toraja rice landraces be practiced continuously? (b) what are the current forms of conservation that are developed and accepted as Toraja socio-cultural activities? (c) how do social media platforms, YouTube, for instance, contribute to the conservation efforts in rice landraces? (d) what are the social implications of conservation education through social media? In order to answer the above questions, six different research methods, namely, observations, in-depth interview, mapping distribution of rice landrace varieties in six fields of studies, calculating Index of Cultural Significance on rice accessions for practicing conservation rice landrace. Digital conservation and conservation culturomics were also measured using NodeXL and API for visualizing the graph of YouTube videos network and calculating the frequency of words occurrence according to search string Toraja rice ritual. The outcome from the study indicates the current forms of conservation by cultivating and consuming rice landrace varieties on everyday life and ritual, as well as preserving rice and agriculture images on wood carving motifs, folk song, and folk dance. The digital conservation efforts are demonstrated by archiving and broadcasting rice rituals on YouTube videos. With an increase of frequency on word occurrences by Toraja language on hashtags on YouTube videos, the users were contributing to participatory culture for preserving vernacular language and promoting agricultural innovations in digital conservation ecosystems and environmental communication.
Many studies on rice landrace (Oryza sativa sbsp. indica) have been conducted by biodiversity, ethnobotany, and agroecology disciplines. The importance of rice landraces as genetic resources and the basics of human civilizations. Conservation landraces in Tumbang Datu and Pongbembe nowadays are affected by the following socio-cultural constraints: a) decline numbers of local varieties after the regional government-imposed funding to local communities to substitute new-high yield varieties, b) rice rites and landrace conservation are on the brink of extinction. This research explores daily behaviors that contribute to rice landrace conservations through the sociological approach of collective memory and symbolic interaction. Today’s generations use new meanings and symbols of rice derived from collective memories and virtues. Various interviewees practice mnemonic devices (what, why, who, where, when, and how) that reflect foodways. According to Blumer, social structures are networks of interdependence among actors that place conditions on their actions. In these networks, people act and produce symbols and meanings of rice to interpret their situations and to have their own set in a localized process of social interpretation. Moreover, the Toraja language is used as a bridge in communicating the past, present, and future to strengthening collective identity. This research uses a qualitative method to explore rice landrace conservation using open-ended questions, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussions. A free-listing method was followed to gather interviewees’ collective memories of rice landraces. Findings show that a combination of methods, tradition-based conservation, and current scientific-technology-based conservation become a practice for promoting, educating, and stimulating the public and researchers to engage in landraces conservation. These findings suggest that the socio-cultural ecosystem and Blumer’s social network support new networks to deliver science in agricultural innovation policy. The results showed that collective memories and foodways create ways that would benefit rice landrace conservation the most.
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