Jendeci
Jendeci
Jedni od svjedoka teškog života nekadašnjih Neretvana poljoprivredne su obradive površine ispresjecane kanalima, u dolini Neretve poznatima kao jendeci. Riječ jendek podrijetlom je iz turskog jezika. Jendeci su ostatak procesa poznatog kao jendečenje, u kojemu se ručno, uz pomoć posebnih motika duge drške te velikim lopatama poznatim kao badilji, do tada za poljoprivredu nepogodno močvarno tlo pretvaralo u ono obradivo, zato bismo ga mogli nazvati primitivnom melioracijom. Jendeci su se radili obično u jesen ili rano proljeće kad je vegetacija bila u mirovanju, a izvlačenjem močvarnog tla iz vode na površinu nastajali bi kanali okomiti na tok rijeke. Obično im je dubina bila između 1,5 i 2 metra, širina 2 do 6 metara, a dužina oko 200 metara. Rezultat ovog bilo je uzdizanje površine između dva jendeka za oko 80 centimetara što je osiguravalo zaštitu od plime i oseke te zaštitu od uništavanja usjeva koji su i dalje bili bogato opskrbljeni vodom. Tako se osim obradivih površina uz neposredni rub doline oni šire i dublje u nekadašnju močvaru što je osiguralo daljnji razvoj poljoprivrede te poboljšanje životnih uvjeta tadašnjih Neretvana. Kasnije, nakon Drugog svjetskog rata, u postupku jendečenja, ljudska radna snaga zamijenjena je mehanizacijom koja je odigrala važnu ulogu u melioraciji velikih močvarnih površina, posebno na području nizvodno od Metkovića
Jendeks
Witnesses of how hard the life of the people of the Neretva valley used to be is the agricultural tillable land covered in canals, in the Neretva valley known as jendeks. The word jendek originates from the Turkish language. Jendeks are the remnants of a process known as ‘jendečenje’, in which by means of special long-handled hoes and large spades known as ‘badilji’, the marshland until then unfavourable for agriculture was manually turned into tillable land; therefore, it could be called primitive melioration. Jendeks were usually done in autumn or early spring when the vegetation was still; by pulling out the wetland from the water to the surface, canals vertical to the river flow would emerge. Their depth was usually between 1.5 and 2 meters, their width 2 to 6 meters, and their length approximately 200 meters. The result of this was the elevation of the surface between two jendeks by approximately 80 centimetres, which ensured protection against ebb and tide and protected the harvest against destruction that continued to be richly supplied with water. Thus, apart from the tillable land along the immediate edge of the valley, they expanded also deeper into former marshland, which ensured further development of agriculture and improvement of the living conditions of the then Neretva people. Later, after World War II, in the process of ‘jendečenje’, the human labour was replaced by mechanisation, which played an important role in the melioration of large marshland surfaces, in particular on the territory downstream of Metković.