Farmers to get paddy seeds

TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang regency administration is considering the provision of 75 tons of paddy seed as an emergency aid for farmers whose fields were destroyed in the flood in January.

Head of the local agriculture office Yodhi Rosidi said on Tuesday the flood had affected 4,833 hectares of rice field, 1,662 hectares of which were destroyed.

Yodhi expressed his guarded optimism that the flood would not disrupt the supply of staple food in the regency because most of the paddy was only between one week and three weeks old.

"The worst possible consequence is a delay in the harvest season for just a few weeks because the farmers will have to plant new seeds to replace the destroyed ones," Yodhi said.

Another result of the flood will be a possibility of some of the flood-hit paddy areas suffering a slight decline in their product both in quality and quantity.

Flood inundated rice fields in 15 districts across the regency, including Cikupa, Kresek, Paku Haji and Teluk Naga.

Yodhi said farmers whose fields were destroyed could claim their losses to the local cooperative office in order to obtain leniency in the repayment of their loan. (41)