Officials warned on food shortage danger<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is on alert for possible food
\nshortages, especially in remote areas, which could threaten
\npolitical stability, State Logistics Agency chief Beddu Amang
\nsaid yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"Adequate supplies of reasonably priced food will improve the
\npublic's feeling of security; something the nation has always
\ncherished,\" Beddu said in Sampit, Central Kalimantan while
\nopening a Rp 1.1 billion (US$448,000) logistical storehouse.<\/p>\n
He said the country's food supplies were concentrated in the
\nagency's storehouses in towns, and that it was often problematic
\nto transport food to areas that urgently needed it.<\/p>\n
Beddu's statement came amid reports of a devastating dry spell
\nacross Indonesia. The rainy season will not begin until November,
\naccording to the meteorology and geophysics agency.<\/p>\n
Drought has severely affected food crops in many rice-
\nproducing areas in Java, West Nusa Tenggara, Sumatra, Central
\nKalimantan and South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Water levels in major reservoirs in Java, dubbed Indonesia's
\nrice bowl because it produces most of the country's rice, are
\nreported to have dropped sharply.<\/p>\n
Beddu said the Sampit logistical storehouse was opened to
\nspeed up the supply of food to remote areas.<\/p>\n
The government is planning to build Rp 11.5 billion (US$4.6
\nmillion) harvest treatment facilities at the experimental one-
\nmillion-hectare peat moss farmland project in Central Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The facilities will be used to store farmers' produce. Similar
\nfacilities are under construction in Central Kalimantan's North
\nBarito and Kapuas regencies.<\/p>\n
The government hopes the facilities will help raise Central
\nKalimantan's rice production from 10,000 tons to at least 20,000
\ntons a year.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that in Purwakarta, West Java, over 60
\nhectares of paddies in Manis and Tegalwaru subdistricts had dried
\nup because of drought. Hundreds of hectares of paddies in other
\nparts of the regency are feared to wilt soon.<\/p>\n
\"We have no hope of our investment yielding anything because
\nwater is getting scarce,\" a farmer said.<\/p>\n
In Cikaobandung village, farmers are so desperate that they
\nhave built a dam across the badly polluted Cinangka river in a
\nbid to save their paddies.<\/p>\n
In hilly southern Purwakarta people have complained of scarce
\ndrinking water.<\/p>\n
Drought is also threatening tobacco crops in Jember, East
\nJava.<\/p>\n
The meteorology and geophysics agency in Jakarta has warned
\nthat inadequate rainfall may harm the quality of the famous
\nBesuki Na Oogst tobacco.<\/p>\n
Jember tobacco farmers do not use irrigation systems so they
\nmust rely on rain and groundwater.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, the director general for water resources
\ndevelopment, Soeparmono, said Thursday that severe drought had
\nlong been expected but many farmers had ignored the government's
\nadvice on how to minimize losses due to water shortages.<\/p>\n
\"Farmers enthusiastically planted paddies in areas expected to
\nsuffer water shortages although the government had advised them
\notherwise,\" he said. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/officials-warned-on-food-shortage-danger-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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