2,000 Bantul families may face food crisis

YOGYAKARTA: The current prolonged dry season and lack of irrigation facilities have caused 2,000 families in three districts in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, to face a potential food crisis.

Farmers in the districts have not been able to plant paddies and other crops as they are dependent on rainwater.

The situation escalated as the districts, Dlingo, Pajangan and Piyungan, are located in hilly areas with no irrigation canals.

"The absence of irrigation canals and the impact of the El Ni*o phenomenon that caused the prolonged dry season is impacting the regency," Gendut Sudarto, the regency secretary and head of the poverty eradication team, said on Saturday.

Separately, Sudirman, Terong hamlet head of the Dlingo district, said residents were now making handicrafts to earn money.

"Some residents go to the cities to work. We don't plant paddies anymore during the dry season. We plant other crops so we won't face food difficulties," Sudirman said. -JP