Jambi could face food crisis: Official

Jambi could face food crisis: Official

JAMBI, Jambi: Batanghari residents in Jambi could face food
shortages after a plague of rice pest locally known as hama
wereng coklat destroyed 1,025 hectares of paddy fields in the
regency.

"The pest attack came following an extreme change of weather,"
a Batanghari Agriculture Office official Darmawi said on Friday.

Darmawi said the areas worst-affected by the bugs were located
in Pemayung district and the surrounding villages of Sungailias,
Sungairumbai and Rantaukapastuo.

"A drastic change of climate, such as sudden heavy rain in the
dry season, helps spread the pests," he said.

His office could do little to stop the insects apart from
warning residents of extreme changes in the weather, he said. --
JP