Prolonged dry season won't affect rice output target: Govt<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The current prolonged dry season would not have a serious impact
\non this year's rice production target, the Ministry of
\nAgriculture said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Ministry food production management director M. Jafar Hafsah
\nsaid that as of August rice output had reached between 80 to 90
\npercent of this year's target of 48.65 million tons.<\/p>\n
\"The extended dry season will not disrupt rice output this
\nyear,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"I'm optimistic we can still produce another 10 to 20 percent
\nthis year,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) predicted on
\nThursday that half of Indonesia would have a prolonged dry season
\nthis year by up to one month.<\/p>\n
Some of the rice-producing areas expected to be hit by the
\nprotracted dry season are: Sukabumi, Subang, Cianjur, Garut,
\nTasikmalaya, Majalengka (West Java), most parts of Central Java,
\nsouthern parts of East Java, central parts of North Sumatra,
\nSouth Lampung, western parts of North Lampung and southeast Aceh.<\/p>\n
According to the agency, rain in the affected areas may only
\nstart to fall in October, which will cause at least a one-month
\ndelay in rice harvesting and planting.<\/p>\n
But there are fears that the delay will cause serious
\ndifficulties to the already financially-suffering farmers.<\/p>\n
Because of the prolonged dry season, farmers can only start
\nplanting rice in November (assuming rains do start in October)
\nand harvest it in January. Normally, farmers start harvesting in
\nDecember.<\/p>\n
The problem is that farmers will need money in December, when
\nmany celebrate the Muslim Ramadhan, Christmas and New Year.<\/p>\n
Agriculture analyst Bayu Krisnamurti of the Center for
\nDevelopment Studies at the Bogor Agriculture University said that
\nthe price of unhusked rice usually dropped in January, but at the
\nsame time the farmers were facing the risk of higher prices for
\nseeds and other production needs.<\/p>\n
The price of unhusked rice increases in the run up to the
\nfestivities because of increased demand, but will go down after
\nthe festivities.<\/p>\n
Rice is the staple food of Indonesia's more than 200 million
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Warsinta, a farmer from Karanganyar village
\nin Cirebon, West Java, told the Post that planting crops in
\nNovember, instead of the normal September period, would make the
\ncrops prone to diseases, which in turn would seriously affect
\nnext year's rice output.<\/p>\n
\"This has been our experience,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that to prevent such problems, the government must
\nprovide farmers with high quality seeds.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prolonged-dry-season-wont-affect-rice-output-target-govt-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}