Farmers rejoice in rare rain

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Farmers in the drought-ridden West Java regency of Indramayu woke up to a much-anticipated heavy rain on Monday, even though it only lasted one hour.

Antara reported that thousands of people along the northern coastline of Java ran out of their homes to fill containers with rainwater.

It was a welcome surprise for Indramayu residents, who have been feeling the heat since the arrival of a drought two months ago.

"It could have been better for us even though the rain lasted just one hour. We could fill our barrels and tanks up with water for our daily needs and water our farms and fields," said Sujarwo, the wife of a farmer in Kepandean village.

The rain, however, was limited to the districts of Indramayu, Sindang, Balongan, Jatibarang, Lohbener, Losarang and Kandanghaur. The rest of the regency and many other parts of Java remain dry.

Other farmers in Indramayu, however, told Antara that the brief rain did not help the hectares of rice fields much and that the threat of no harvest remains real.

"The rainwater could not satisfy the rice fields, which have been scorched due to the water shortage," one of the farmers said.

Irregular rain patterns, he said, would endanger the rice fields.

Heavy rain also fell in the neighboring town of Cirebon on Sunday night.

Dark clouds were seen over Cirebon, Majalengka, part of Indramayu amd Kuningan on Monday afternoon, but heavy winds dashed any hopes of more rain to relieve the dry soil in the towns.

Farmers in Banyumas and Cilacap, Central Java have anticipated the worst effects of the excessive drought, which may dash all hopes of harvesting rice this year.

At least 60,000 hectares of rice fields in the two regencies are facing this possibility, local authorities said.

The economic and development assistant to the regency administration, Suyatno, has said that only 241 hectares of rice fields were declared barren due to the drought so far, but that amount could reach 30,000 hectares if the dry season continues until the end of the year.

Suyatno told The Jakarta Post the local government was trying to manage irrigation by allowing farmers to take turns at watering their fields. The government has also planned to dig deep wells to cope with the water shortage.

The regency, he said, needed 161 more wells to help farmers evade the worst impact of the long drought.

In East Nusa Tenggara, local authorities have called on residents to save water following a drastic decline in the water supply recently.

Head of the provincial settlement and infrastructure agency Piet Djami Rebo also told farmers to adjust crops to the current dry season. He suggested that farmers avoid planting rice.