Panca Nugraha and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Central Lombok, Semarang | Sat, 07/26/2008 11:25 AM
THE DRY FACTS: Mud buffalo graze on withered paddy plants in soil cracking from lack of water, near Penujak village in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. The prolonged drought hitting a large part of the country, including Java, has destroyed around 1,300 hectares of paddy plants in 10 districts in the regency. (JP/Panca Nugraha)A prolonged drought has destroyed thousands of hectares of rice plants in six districts in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, which the local administration has attributed to farmers' failure to follow advice.
"Crops have failed this planting season. I'm just gathering the remnants which we can still salvage to eat," Jumadil, 29, a farmer in Batulai village in Central Lombok, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He said the rice crops had not matured enough to harvest.
Jumadil's 23-hectare rice farm yielded 1.2 tons of unhusked rice during the first planting season in April, but he incurred heavy losses in the second season because of the drought.
According to Jumadil, rainfall was quite high during the harvest season in April, prompting farmers to replant. But in the middle of June, only a month into the planting season, the rain stopped and water from the Satek Ilir irrigation channel dried up.
The drought is expected to continue until early November.
"The rain stopped right after I fertilized my crops. I had to cut the plants to prevent them from being taken by rodents," he said.
The drought has also created water shortages, with residents in remote villages having to travel long distances to reach water sources.
Head of the Central Lombok Agricultural and Husbandry Office Lalu Sarafuddin on Friday confirmed the harvest failure in the second planting season this year.
However, he said it occurred because of farmers' failure to heed the local government, which had advised them to grow other crops in the second planting season.
"We urged village leaders and agricultural advisers long before the second planting season to ask farmers to plant side crops instead of rice because of limited water and rainfall. But they were determined to grow rice," he said.
Around 1,300 hectares of rice crops in six districts, encompassing 10 villages in Praya district, three in West Praya, three in Southwest Praya, 10 in Pujut, two in Janapria and eight in Jonggat district, have suffered harvest failure.
"Drought is an annual occurrence here, so every time the second planting season approaches, we call on farmers to grow crops such as corn and soybean. But as they are generally traditional farmers, they are determined to grow rice again at the slightest indication of rain," Sarafuddin said.
The local administration is currently looking into ways to tackle the drought issue. One plan to help farmers, especially those in areas prone to harvest failure, is to provide free seedlings for the next planting season next year.
"We can't really do anything else because under the law on the cultivation system, the government cannot intervene or force farmers to plant rice or side crops. All we can do is appeal to them, but they didn't listen to us," he added.
The drought has also damaged more than 13,000 hectares of paddy in West and Central Java, causing a drop in national rice production this year.
Local governments have deployed trucks to supply clean water to people in urban areas while those living in remote areas are using water from drying rivers for cooking and washing.
In Central Java, farmers have been hit with major harvest failures, as the drought has already severely affected 2,961 paddy fields in a number of regencies, said Nuswantoro Setyadi Pradono, head of the Central Java agriculture office.
Cilacap, Boyolalu, Banyumas and Rembang regencies are the worst affected by the drought.
"All in all the total extent of paddy fields affected by the drought has reached 14,527 hectares, but the harvest failures are as mentioned earlier. Farmers are getting nothing," Nuswantoro said.
There are more rice fields affected by drought this year compared with the corresponding period last year. This year, the drought has affected 7,642 hectares, 1,497 hectares of which are facing harvest failure.
