Minister of Public Works Prepares Strategies to Face Prolonged Dry Season

The Minister of Public Works (PU), Dody Hanggodo, has revealed strategies to address the prolonged dry season resulting from El Nino, aimed at safeguarding food security. “I said there are still several ways we can implement. First, weather modification operations to rain on the upstream areas of these dams, so that rainwater will gradually flow into the reservoirs,” Dody stated in Boyolali, Central Java, on Sunday, 29 March 2026. The Ministry of PU is also coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture to prepare pompanisasi initiatives to irrigate rice fields that can no longer receive water from weirs or dams. “Second, together with the Minister of Agriculture, we will carry out a pompanisasi programme. Pompanisasi has been successfully implemented in previous years and helped prevent a national decline in agricultural production,” Dody added. Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman has assured the availability of food stocks, particularly rice, amid the threat of drought from the El Nino phenomenon expected this year. Amran stated that the current national rice stock is in the safest condition in Indonesia’s history, with reserves sufficient to meet needs for the next 10 months. He explained that this stock does not include the upcoming harvests in the coming months. He projects at least two million tonnes of production per month for the next seven months, resulting in a total reserve of up to 14 million tonnes, predicted to cover needs until May 2027. The El Nino threat typically lasts only six months, so it will not significantly affect food stocks.