Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Farmers in Tangerang regency's northern coastal areas have had a difficult year, with an insect plague followed by a flood earlier this year and the current drought cutting irrigation to the area.
There are 28,500 hectares of rice paddies in the Sepatan, Mauk and Sukadiri districts. Farmers expected their crops to fail even when they planted the seedlings in July and August, because no rain had fallen since early June. Some even put their cattle out to pasture in the paddies to graze on the stunted stalks of rice.
Saeful, 55, a farmer in Gunung Sari village in Mauk, said if there had been rain just two weeks ago, his rice crop would not have failed.
He said he blamed the regency administration for failing to anticipate how long the drought would last and informing the villagers of the risks.
""I have to wait until it rains before I can start planting again. But no one knows when the rain will come,"" he said.
Samba, 43, a farmer from the Sepatan district, also blamed the crop failures on the regency administration and added that he also placed some of the weight on the local water and irrigation agency for not evenly distributing water from the main irrigation canals of the Cisadane River.
""As a farmer, of course I depend on the water supply, especially during the dry season. I'm in debt because I had by fertilizer and other things for the rice fields. Now I don't know how I can pay them,"" the father of six said.
Sepatan religious and public figure M. Ali said he accused the regency administration of ignoring the farmers' plight.
He said the administration had only tackled the problem in districts that had industrial plants, such as Serpong, Curug, Cikupa, Balaraja, Pasar Kemis and Tigaraksa in the southern part of the regency. He added that the same plants had caused pollution affecting farmers in Sepatan, Mauk, Sukadiri, Teluknaga and Pakuhaji.
""You see, the water flowing through the Cicarab and Cisadane rivers can no longer be used for farming. Many fish and ducks are dead from poison since the water has been polluted by industrial waste in those districts,"" he said.
Ali also said that the Public Works Agency had left farmers out of the distribution of water from the irrigation canals.
However, Suparno, an officer in charge of water distribution at a sluice in Sepatan said a new policy was being applied during the drought.
""To water the rice fields, we need to make distribution lists and then alternately share the water through the farming areas. This policy is going to be done in turns because water supplies for the main irrigation point of the Sepatan and Cisadane rivers are much reduced during the dry season,"" he said.
