More rice fields damaged

UJUNGPANDANG, S. Sulawesi: An official from the agricultural office in South Sulawesi said that 7,000 of 340,000 hectares of rice fields have suffered crop failure due to the prolonged dry season.

However, the damage would not threaten the food supply of the province, A. Halim Palloge said. He said the surplus from annual rice production of the province and its contribution toward the national food supply could still be maintained.

Meanwhile, hundreds of hectares of rice fields in the northern coastal regency of Tegal in Central Java have been damaged, incurring a loss of millions of rupiah to farmers.

Most of the fields depend on rain water and irrigation from the Cibero dam, which has already dried up, Antara reported yesterday.

Some farmers told the news agency that they had to sell young plants and seedlings to cattle breeders in order to avoid greater losses. They planned to switch and grow fruits rather than rice.

They said the local administration had to dig artesian wells to supply water to irrigate their fields.

In Jambi, 155 out of 5,175 hectares of soybean fields and 563 out of 28,151 hectares of rice fields have dried up, said local agricultural office official Tagor Mulia Nasution.

He said the current dry season also threatened another 9,469 hectares of rice fields and 203 hectares of soybean fields.

Tagor said the agricultural office along with the local administration had provided water pumps to four regencies: Tanjung, Batanghari, Bungo Tebo and Sarolangun Bangko.

He also told farmers to grow plants that absorbed less water and to economize water usage. (37/09)