Cloud seedling last option

JATILUHUR, West Java: The government considers that cloud seedling will be the last resort in overcoming water shortages in West Java's major reservoirs.

Drought has affected at least 22,000 hectares of rice fields which depend on water from the Jatiluhur reservoir, Antara reported yesterday.

West Java is a key rice-growing area.

The water levels in the Saguling and Cirata reservoirs have also dropped significantly.

"This year's drought is likely to be similar to the droughts in 1991," Jatiluhur Authority chief Muhamad Ulama said yesterday.

The water volumes in the Cibeet, Bekasi, Cikarang, Cipunegara and other big rivers in West Java had dropped drastically from 40 cubic meters of water a second to 10 cubic meters a second, Ulama said.

"We hope that farmers will use the water more efficiently," he said. (06)