Drought hits rice farmers in two provinces<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): Many rice producing areas in Java and
\nKalimantan have begun to feel the pinch of this year's drought
\nwhich is expected to last until at least the end of October.<\/p>\n
In Central Kalimantan, drought is undermining the government's
\none-million-hectare peat moss land project which is an
\nexperimental project to turn arid land into paddy fields.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo said that little
\ncould be done to help farmers at the site because irrigation
\nsystems were still under construction.<\/p>\n
\"Since the systems are not yet ready, it's just normal that
\nthe problem still abounds,\" Siswono told a hearing of House
\nCommission IV on resettlements.<\/p>\n
House members criticized the government for relocating people
\nto the site before water distribution systems were even close to
\ncompletion.<\/p>\n
They said the ambitious project did not include construction
\nof roads vital to transport agricultural produce. Transportation
\nrelies heavily on rivers, which subside during dry seasons.<\/p>\n
To make the government's dream of establishing the area as a
\nkey rice producing zone come true, 3,500 families have been
\nresettled there under the state transmigration program.<\/p>\n
Another 20,000 families are to be resettled there this year.<\/p>\n
Sarwono said the government was building irrigation systems to
\nirrigate 50,000 hectares in the northern part of the site.<\/p>\n
To cope with the drought, each family received three plastic
\ntanks and a water purifier, Sarwono said.<\/p>\n
In Central Java, the worst drought hit areas are the Rembang,
\nKlaten and Boyolali regencies where local governments have had to
\nsupply clean water to residents.<\/p>\n
Rembang regency government spokesman Nurcahyo said yesterday
\nthat wells and man-made lagoons had dried up in five
\nsubdistricts.<\/p>\n
\"Many people have to travel quite far to fetch water and
\nothers have to buy water from traders,\" Nurcahyo said.<\/p>\n
This is also happening in Klaten regency, where drinking water
\nhas become a lucrative business.<\/p>\n
In Boyolali, severe drought has affected thousands of people
\nliving on the foot and slopes of mount Merapi.<\/p>\n
Boyolali regency government spokesman Sugiyanto said the
\ngovernment would soon deliver water to affected areas.<\/p>\n
Water levels in Central Java's reservoirs have dropped
\ndrastically during the dry season, including in the Grobogan,
\nKudus, Pati and Demak regencies.<\/p>\n
Local residents have taken advantage of drying reservoirs,
\nincluding the Kedungombo reservoir in Boyolali, by planting rice,
\ncorn, soy beans and other crops on the fertile, dry beds.<\/p>\n
\"We use the dried reservoirs during the dry season for growing
\ncrops, sometimes we fail because the water supply rises,\"
\nWaginem, a woman from Dukuh Karang, Karanggeneng village, Kemusu
\ndistrict, was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Kedungombo multipurpose reservoir supervisor Prapto Subagyo
\nsaid the reservoir had a normal capacity of 590 million cubic
\nmeters.<\/p>\n
The reservoir can irrigate about 70,000 hectares of rice
\npaddies in the Grobogan, Kudus, Pati and Demak regencies, where
\nrice is harvested at a rate of five tons of dried, unhusked rice
\na hectare.<\/p>\n
The Agency for Meteorology and Geophysics predicted yesterday
\nthat this year's rainy season was not likely to start until
\nDecember, three months later than usual.<\/p>\n
Agency chief Sri Diharto also predicted that rain intensities
\nin the wet season would be \"light\" because of the early presence
\nof an El Nino storm.<\/p>\n
Severe drought usually increases the incidence of forest
\nfires.<\/p>\n
According to Diharto, it was impossible to conduct cloud
\nseedling at the present because clouds were still too thin for
\nthat.<\/p>\n
Cloud seedling will be possible in October, he added.
\n(39\/01\/24\/har\/pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/drought-hits-rice-farmers-in-two-provinces-1447893297",
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