The Ministry of Agriculture will optimise the operation of 80,158\nwater pump units that have been distributed in 2025 to farmer groups to\naddress the potential drought due to extreme El Ni\u00f1o starting from April\n2026 nationwide. The government will soon add around 40,000 water pump\nunits to anticipate the potential long dry season this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m adding pump irrigation. Yes, hopefully 40,000. So, it will be\nstronger. So, no need to worry about El Ni\u00f1o because our defences are\nstrong. Because we already have pump irrigation, we have irrigation,\nthen the swamp land that we planted before, we repair its irrigation,\nplant once, become twice, three times,\u201d said Minister of Agriculture\nAndi Amran Sulaiman when met during a visit to the Bulog Panaikang\nWarehouse in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Sunday, 5 April 2026, as\nquoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
He emphasised that Indonesia has strong experience in dealing with El\nNi\u00f1o, thus able to maintain national food production stability through\nmeasured adaptation and mitigation strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201c(El Ni\u00f1o) Godzilla, they say it\u2019s dry for six months. But it seems\nstill higher than the previous El Ni\u00f1o (in) 2015. We already have\nexperience managing El Ni\u00f1o with friends (in) 2015, 2023, 2024. La Ni\u00f1a,\nEl Ni\u00f1o,\u201d said Amran Sulaiman.<\/p>\n
Amran said the impact of extreme hot weather is starting to be felt\nand has the potential to affect agricultural production. However, the\ngovernment has experience in dealing with similar conditions in previous\nyears.<\/p>\n
He also emphasised various strategic steps that have been taken to\nstrengthen the production system, from increasing pump irrigation to\noptimising swamp land.<\/p>\n
He invited the public not to worry about the current extreme weather\nconditions, because the government has prepared various measured\nmitigation steps. \u201cSo, it\u2019s already safe. Food is safe,\u201d he\nstressed.<\/p>\n
In addition, he affirmed that national food resilience is currently\nin a very strong position supported by abundant rice stocks. The\ngovernment\u2019s rice stock stored in Perum Bulog warehouses has reached the\nhighest figure in Indonesia\u2019s history, touching 4.5 million tonnes at\nthe beginning of April 2026.<\/p>\n
In addition to stocks in government warehouses, Amran revealed the\navailability of food distributed in other sectors as well as ongoing\nproduction potential. \u201cThe second is what\u2019s in Horeka (hotels,\nrestaurants, cafes\/catering) according to our managed data, that\u2019s 12.5\nmillion tonnes. Then our standing crop that\u2019s planted now ready for\nharvest, that\u2019s 11 million tonnes. So already 23 million tonnes,\u201d he\nsaid.<\/p>\n
With that total availability, he estimated that national food needs\ncan be met for a long period, even exceeding the peak drought\nperiod.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means for the next 11 months it\u2019s safe. Stock for the\nIndonesian people for the next 11 months is safe. Whereas the drought is\n6 months. So, safe, right?\u201d he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/40-000-additional-pumps-prepared-to-face-el-nino-1775652785", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }