Harvest may fail due to drought

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: This year's corn harvest in the province may fail due to drought, Antara reported yesterday.

Thousands of hectares of corn fields in the regencies of Flores Timur, Kupang, Timur Tengah Selatan, Ende, and Ngada have been affected by drought.

Flores Timur regent Henky Mukin and Kupang regent Paul Lawa Rihi said they had set up a special team to deal with the problem and anticipate the possible threat of food shortages.

Mukin said: "Our harvest may fail this year, because all our crops have died due to the dry season. We had better be aware and be prepared."

But Mukin remained confident that the corn fields could be supplemented with jambu mete (cashew nuts) and coffee.

Timor Tengah Selatan regent Piet Sabuna said 2,000 hectares of crops in five villages of Amanuban subdistrict were also facing failure.

However, Piet said people would still be able to rely on the current crop, although he did not say for how long.

A large number of livestock have died from food and water shortages in Ngada and Ende regencies in Flores.

Corn has been the province's main agricultural commodity. The province is populated by more than 3.5 million people. (aan)