Harvest may fail due to drought

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)