Minister of Agriculture inspects drought threats to Karawang rice fields
We must not be preoccupied with debates and meetings; we must look directly at the field to check the drought affecting the paddy fields.
Karawang (ANTARA) - Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman personally inspected the drought management efforts threatening rice field areas in the Karawang Regency, West Java, on Monday.
“We must not be busy debating in meetings and so on; we must see the field directly (to check the drought affecting the paddy fields),” said Amran during a sudden inspection of paddy fields in Sindangsari Village, Kutawaluya District, Karawang, on Monday.
The Minister stated that drought management should not merely be monitored from Jakarta, but the real conditions of the fields must be checked directly, including ensuring that drought-stricken lands receive water pump supplies.
The Minister admitted that this sudden inspection aimed to ensure that the pump machinery assistance distributed by the government has truly been installed and is being utilised optimally by farmers.
The Karawang Regency Government previously distributed 63 units of water pumps, provided as assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture, to farmer groups as an effort to handle the drought threatening rice field areas during this dry season.
“This visit is a sudden inspection. Seeing directly whether the pumps have indeed been installed, and whether those experiencing drought have been provided with pumps—it turns out they have. Therefore, my thanks to the Director General of Water Resources at the Ministry of Public Works,” he added.
According to the Minister, the impact of drought has been mapped across approximately 30,000 hectares of paddy fields, out of a total of around 11 million hectares. These conditions are spread across several regions in Java and outside Java.
In handling the drought, he added, the government has prepared tens of thousands of pumps. Additionally, there is assistance for agricultural tools and machinery (alsintan), ranging from harvesting tools to tractors.
Specifically in the visited location in the Karawang region, there are approximately 3,000 hectares of land whose productivity can potentially be increased through pumpisation.
He mentioned that if this land produces around 7 tons of grain per hectare, assuming a price of Rp6,500 per kilogram, then the additional income for farmers could reach approximately Rp136 billion.
Amran is optimistic that rice productivity in Karawang, known as a rice granary region, can be increased.
He stated that the drought conditions in Karawang will not significantly disrupt production.