Rain-making operation shifts to Central Java

Rain-making operation shifts to Central Java

JAKARTA (JP): Following the huge success in West Java, the
government's cloud seeding operation has moved to Central Java,
where the severe dry spell has affected thousands of hectares of
rice fields.

The Agency for the Research and Application of Technology,
working with the Central Java Public Works Office, will be
spraying salt in various places in the province during the next
two weeks, the Ministry of Public Works said in a statement.

The operation will first target the Serayu River in the
western part of the province where the impact of the dry spell on
paddies is most severe. The operation hopes to induce rain above
the huge Kedungombo reservoir where the water level has fallen
drastically.

The government has reported that 500,000 hectares of rice
fields in Java and in West Nusa Tenggara are threatened because
of the unusually harsh dry spell this year.

A total of 60,000 hectares of paddies have already been
completely written off.

The hint of massive rice crop failures has prompted rice
traders to hoard their stock, causing prices to rise in many
large cities in Indonesia.

Public Works officials said the government is hopeful that it
can still salvage 200,000 of the 500,000 hectares now under
threat by inducing rains in strategic locations.

The cloud seeding operation in West Java has succeeded in
inducing rain in West Java and raised the water level of a number
of strategic rivers including the Ciasem, Cikawung, Ciherang,
Ciseel and Cimuntur. The rain that poured over Jakarta last week
was also attributed to the operation, when strong winds blew the
rain cloud over the Indonesian capital.

Altogether, 14 showers were recorded during the two week
operation, according to the Public Works Ministry.

Soeparmono, the Director General of Irrigation at the Ministry
of Public Works, said on Monday that farmers in West Java should
start harvesting their rice now.

The government will consider cloud seeding in West Java again
in September if it has not rained by then.

Soeparmono said the operation is mainly to save ripe paddies.
The young paddies come last.

Besides inducing rain, the directorate is also operating three
"balloon dams" designed to conserve as much water as possible
during dry season. The three dams are in the Solo and Demak
areas, both in Central Java, and in Surabaya.

The directorate is currently finishing five other balloon
dams, three in the Madiun area and the other two in Ponorogo,
both in East Java. The five dams are expected to start operating
in October.

The Central Java operation will be launched from the Ahmad
Yani airport in Semarang. Two propeller driven CASA NC 212-200
planes will be used, each one making five rounds a day to spray
salt into clouds. (emb/rid)