Cirebon (ANTARA) \u2013 Golden rice grains bent low over the fields in\nGeyongan village, Cirebon Regency, West Java, in mid-September 2026. The\nsoil, which had cracked during the dry season, became wet again after\nreceiving water from a pressurised irrigation system.<\/p>\n
Mashudi, head of the Geyongan Village Farmers and Community Forum,\ntold ANTARA on 29 October that he was relieved after farmers in the\nvillage had raced against time to save their rice crops from the threat\nof a failed harvest.<\/p>\n
The 51-year-old has been familiar with farming since childhood. But\ndecades of experience working the land did not ease his anxiety as water\nbecame harder to obtain, particularly when the drought was intensified\nby the El Ni\u00f1o phenomenon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWater is very important. For us, it is like gold. Just imagine, sir:\nour rice plants\u2019 leaves had curled because of the drought,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Together with members of the Tani Jaya Farmers\u2019 Group Association\n(Gapoktan), Mashudi manages about 90 hectares of land. Most of the rice\nfields depend on rainfall, leaving them vulnerable to climate\nanomalies.<\/p>\n
One source of irrigation in the village is a reservoir covering about\n4.5 hectares, which serves 60 hectares of land. It has a storage\ncapacity of 70,400 cubic metres and a water level of about 1.56\nmetres.<\/p>\n
However, a leak that had persisted for about three years had reduced\nthe reservoir\u2019s effectiveness. Water levels continued to fall, and the\nsupply was no longer sufficient for agricultural needs.<\/p>\n
Water supplied from the Giwangan area, about 18 kilometres away, was\nalso unable to replenish the reservoir because the river flow was too\nlow to reach the site.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/how-subsidised-fuel-and-irrigation-assistance-saved-farmers-rice-fields-1793379092", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }