Serang Farmers Switch to Cucumbers as Dry Spell Halts Rice Planting

A prolonged dry spell has hit the Kasemen area of Serang City, forcing local farmers to abandon plans for the third rice planting cycle. A female farmer named Suriyah said the dry season has lasted for two to three months, leaving her paddy fields in Kampung Kebasiran too parched to support rice cultivation. “It has been a long drought. We cannot plant rice anymore,” she said on Thursday. To keep her land productive while allowing the soil to rest, Suriyah has opted to plant cucumbers instead. Mardani, a farmer from Kampung Cangkring, echoed similar concerns, stating he is uncertain about planting rice during the third cycle, which typically falls around late August or early September. “We will see in September whether there is still water available,” he said. For now, he relies on a diesel pump to draw water from irrigation channels, noting the additional expense is considerable.