Rice production drops in West Java<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
This year's prolonged dry season has caused rice production in
\nWest Java to reach 8.9 million tons, falling short of the target
\nof 9.2 million tons.<\/p>\n
Provincial agriculture office head Daddy Muljadi said although
\nthe rice production missed the target this year, the province was
\nstill the country's main rice producer, considering that other
\nrice-producing provinces like East and Central Java were also
\nfacing low volumes from the drought.<\/p>\n
Daddy said the harsh dry season was worse than in previous
\nyears and had affected around 300,000 hectares (ha) of rice
\nfields out of the total 1.7 million ha in the province.<\/p>\n
The worst conditions were faced by rice-producing areas such
\nas Indramayu, Cirebon, Majalengka, Subang, Ciamis, Bandung,
\nCianjur and Sukabumi.<\/p>\n
\"Some 61,000 ha of farmland have dried up and suffered crop
\nfailures,\" Daddy said on Tuesday. Last year, only half that
\namount had suffered crop failures.<\/p>\n
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) forecasted that
\nthe dry season would last until November, and that the rainy
\nseason would come immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n
Data from the West Java agriculture office showed that around
\n20,000 ha of paddy fields may face floods during the rainy
\nseason, especially in Bandung, Indramayu and Karawang.<\/p>\n
\"The possible floods may cause a drop in rice production by
\nabout 100,000 tons this year,\" Daddy said.<\/p>\n
He believed that the worsening situation was caused by various
\nfactors, including poor water management, rampant illegal logging
\nand rapid urban development, which had turned vital water
\ncatchment areas into housing complexes over the past five years.<\/p>\n
\"This mismanagement makes the province vulnerable to extreme
\nmeteorological conditions, such as floods during rainy seasons
\nand drought in dry seasons,\" he said. \"The condition will recur
\nannually if the fundamental problem -- poor water management --
\nis not improved.\"<\/p>\n
He was nevertheless optimistic that the series of natural
\ndisasters would not affect rice stocks for West Java, as only
\nabout 50 percent of total production was consumed by the local
\nmarket. The remaining 50 percent is distributed to other regions,
\nincluding Jakarta and Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that Indonesia's
\nunhusked rice production reached 51.37 million tons in 2002,
\nwhile the average national consumption of rice was estimated at
\n28.03 million tons per year.<\/p>\n
Indonesia achieved self-sufficiency in primary food
\ncommodities in 1983, but a report in The Rice Trader, however,
\nshowed that Indonesia imported 3.70 million tons of rice in 2002.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rice-production-drops-in-west-java-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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