Beware of Prolonged Dry Season Due to El Niño: Here is the Public Works Minister's Strategy

Minister of Public Works (PU) Dody Hanggodo has revealed strategies to address the prolonged dry season resulting from El Niño in order to safeguard food security. Several strategies have been prepared, including efforts in weather modification.

“I said there are still several methods we can implement. First, weather modification operations to induce rain at the upstream of reservoirs so that rainwater enters the upstream and gradually flows down to the reservoirs,” Dody stated in Boyolali, Central Java, on Sunday (29/3/2026).

The Ministry of Public Works is also coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare pompanisation for irrigating rice fields that can no longer receive water from weirs or reservoirs.

“Second, together with the Minister of Agriculture, we will carry out a pompanisation programme. Pompanisation has been done several years ago and successfully supported national agricultural production to prevent a decline,” Dody said.

For information, Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman has guaranteed rice food stocks amid the threat of drought due to the El Niño phenomenon predicted to occur this year.

Mentan Amran stated that the current national rice stock is in the safest condition throughout the history of the Republic of Indonesia, with reserves sufficient to meet needs for the next 10 months.

He explained that the current available stock does not include that which will be harvested in the coming months.

He projects at least two million tonnes of production per month for the next seven months.

This means, he said, it can produce a total reserve of up to 14 million tonnes, predicted to cover needs until May 2027. The El Niño threat typically lasts only six months, so it will not significantly affect food stocks.