Post-Disaster Paddy Field Rehabilitation in Sumatra Surges by 4,000 Hectares in 17 Days
Info Tempo – The roar of bulldozers continues day and night on lands damaged by the floods in November 2025. In several locations, heavy equipment is seen leveling mud heaps, repairing breached dikes, and reopening irrigation channels blocked by flood debris as part of the efforts of the Task Force for Accelerating Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (Satgas PRR) Pascabencana Sumatra to speed up the recovery of farmers’ affected paddy fields.
On-the-ground physical acceleration is being driven hard. Citing daily data from Satgas PRR, the area of land that has completed rehabilitation rose by 4,000 hectares in 17 days. The latest data, 21 May 2026, recorded 7,104 hectares, up from 2,997 hectares on 4 May 2026.
This acceleration aligns with the target set at a meeting of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Tomsi Tohir, with all affected regional governments on Thursday 30 April, which emphasised speeding up rehabilitation to catch the planting period before the peak of the long dry season in August.
The largest increase occurred in Aceh. In the last two weeks, the area of paddy fields rehabilitated in that province rose from 215 hectares to 2,148 hectares. The additional 1,933 hectares represents one of the biggest progress jumps since the rehabilitation programme began.
Nevertheless, Aceh remains the region with the heaviest recovery challenges. As of 21 May 2026, the progress of rehabilitated paddy fields has only reached 6.8 percent of the total target of more than 31,000 hectares affected.
Meanwhile, West Sumatra still records the highest achievement. The paddy fields completed in this region rose from 2,235 hectares to 3,409 hectares in the same period. With a completion rate of 87.36 percent, West Sumatra is now just one step away from fully meeting the rehabilitation target.
In North Sumatra, acceleration is evident from the high rate of projects already underway. The area of paddy fields rehabilitated rose from 547 hectares to 1,546 hectares, an increase of 999 hectares in the last 17 days.
Overall, Satgas PRR data show a change in the rehabilitation work pattern across the three affected provinces. If in the initial phase focus was more on opening construction areas and preparing technical designs, work is now shifting to the on-ground physical completion stage.
This is reflected in the relatively modest rise in the area in the construction stage compared with the surge in paddy fields completed. As of 4 May 2026, the area of paddy fields in the construction stage stood at 12,691 hectares. The figure rose to 13,959 hectares on 21 May, an increase of about 1,268 hectares.
Conversely, the area of paddy fields completed for rehabilitation actually more than doubled in the same period. This indicates that manpower and resources on the ground are being focused on finishing projects already underway so that land can be used by farmers again as soon as possible.
In addition to physical work, progress has also occurred at the stage of technical planning. The area of land that has completed surveys, investigations (SID), and rehabilitation designs increased from 16,670 hectares to 17,382 hectares.
Head of Satgas PRR Tito Karnavian emphasised that paddy field rehabilitation is a priority post-disaster recovery because it directly relates to food security and farmers’ livelihoods. “All efforts are being made to accelerate recovery,” he said in February.
“This is urgent. Therefore, there is funding from ministries and agencies. For example, the Minister of Agriculture is disbursing almost Rp 900 billion for agricultural irrigation, seeds, and other things,” Tito emphasised.