Windmill to raise water introduced

JAKARTA: A non-governmental organization (NGO) for community empowerment introduced on Tuesday a windmill to raise groundwater for areas in the northern coast of Java, which is prone to drought during the dry season.

"We hope this windmill can help farmers get water for their farms during the drought," said Simon L. Himawan of the Derap Indonesia Foundation.

He said that the pilot project would take place in Karawang, West Java, at the start of this year's dry season.

Measuring two meters by three meters, with a height of eight meters, each machine, called a Nusantara II Windmill, is capable of watering two to four heactares of cornfield.

They can raise groundwater from depth of nine meters. Simon said the windmills were much cheaper, in term of maintenance, than conventional pumps.

Although the northern coast area contributed to half of the country's rice production, farmers there could plant the crop only during the rainy season, for there was insufficient access to water during the dry season.

Formerly, the farmers migrated to nearby towns or big cities like Jakarta to seek temporary work as laborers during the dry season. -- JP