Padang Pariaman restores disaster-affected rice fields through Oplah
Padang (ANTARA) - Padang Pariaman Regency in West Sumatra has completed the restoration of 446 hectares of lightly damaged rice fields affected by hydrometeorological disasters at the end of 2023 through the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture’s Optimalisasi Lahan (Oplah) programme.
“For lightly damaged rice fields, they have all been addressed 100 percent through land optimisation assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture covering 446 hectares,” said Padang Pariaman Regent John Kenedy Azis in Parik Malintang on Thursday.
He stated that the acceleration of rice field rehabilitation, in addition to following up on the working visit of the Minister of Agriculture on 14 April 2024, is also because rice fields are one of the backbones of farmers’ economies.
At that time, the Minister of Agriculture set a target for Oplah completion within one month, but Padang Pariaman managed to finish it in 23 days, with simultaneous planting carried out in Tanah Taban, Nagari Pasia Laweh, Lubuk Alung Subdistrict, on Wednesday, 13 May.
“Alhamdulillah, the target given by the Minister for one month has been completed by us in less than a month,” he said.
“Meanwhile, moderately damaged land covering 238.25 hectares has only been handled for 198 hectares through national budget assistance, while the remainder does not meet the minimum area requirement,” he added.
In addition to moderate damage, he said rice fields in Padang Pariaman also suffered severe damage covering 450.7 hectares, and even around 100.5 hectares more were lost due to being swept away by river currents.
The Regent said that to date, severely damaged rice fields and land lost due to river abrasion have not received allocation of rehabilitation or land replacement assistance from the central government.
He requested the Ministry of Agriculture to assist in rehabilitating 450.7 hectares of severely damaged rice fields, 100.5 hectares of lost rice fields, and 570.35 hectares of affected maize fields, as they serve as the economic mainstay for farmers.
Previously, the Padang Pariaman Regency Government in West Sumatra targeted the completion of rehabilitation work on moderately damaged rice fields due to hydrometeorological disasters that occurred at the end of last year within three weeks.
“Previously, there was only one piece of heavy equipment to clean flood residue material, but (since yesterday) the number of heavy equipment working has become five units,” said Acting Head of the Regional Secretariat of Padang Pariaman Hendra Aswara in Parik Malintang.
He said that with more heavy equipment working, the cleaning of flood material covering the rice fields due to the hydrometeorological disaster at the end of last year would be resolved in less than three weeks, allowing rice planting to follow.
He conveyed that Padang Pariaman received the Optimalisasi Lahan or Oplah programme and rehabilitation of disaster-affected rice fields, funded by the national budget through the Ministry of Agriculture.