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Rice harvest failures spread in Cirebon as drought hits 18,000 ha
(Kompas/Mohamad Final Daeng)It is feared that paddy harvest failures will increase in Cirebon, one of West Java’s key rice production centers, as about 18,000 hectares of paddy fields have been hit by water scarcity
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(Kompas/Mohamad Final Daeng)
It is feared that paddy harvest failures will increase in Cirebon, one of West Java’s key rice production centers, as about 18,000 hectares of paddy fields have been hit by water scarcity.
Of that number, 5,000 hectares of paddy fields have been confirmed as facing total harvest failure, Yoyon Suharyono, secretary of the Cimanuk-Cisanggarung River Water Resources Management Coordinating team, said on Wednesday.
Yoyon said that difficulties in securing water supplies had been caused mainly by falls in the level of water at major dams supplied by the Cimanuk and Cisanggarung rivers.
“Water levels in the two rivers dropped sharply during the current drought. The two rivers are known to be the main suppliers of water to a number of dams in Cirebon, including Bendung Rentang dam in Majalengka,” Yoyon said.
Head of Cirebon Agriculture, Plantation and Livestock Husbandry Office, Ali Effendi, admitted that rice harvest failures could continue to spread.
“The number of paddy fields facing harvest failure will continue to increase. The drought has severely affected young paddy plants aged between 30 and 60 days,” Ali said.
He added that the problem of water scarcity was difficult to counter. Rationing water was not effective due to the low levels of water flow, he said.
Ali said that paddy fields facing the destruction of their harvests were located in 12 districts, including Astanajapura, Gegesik, Gunung Jati, Kapetakan, Kedawung, Mundu, Pabedilan, Suranenggala and Susukan. “The worst hit is Kapetakan district, where paddy fields with harvest failures have totaled 3,000 hectares,” he said.
According to Ali, scarcity of water could not be resolved in areas far from the irrigation networks. “The Kapetakan district is located in the northernmost part of Cirebon regency, while the Bendung Rentang dam is in the south. Once water levels at the Bendung Rentang dam drops, it will be difficult for those areas furthest away to get water,” Ali said.
These difficulties of obtaining water supplies were shared by local farmers. Mari, a farmer in Kedawung district, said he had been forced to rent a pump to irrigate his paddy fields. In order to secure enough water for his 0.7-hectare paddy fields, Mari had to operate the pump for 10 hours. “Without the pump, my paddy fields would be dry,” he said.
A similar experience was shared by Rasman, a farmer from Mundu district, where he was forced to rent a pump for 12 hours to water his 1-hectare area of paddy fields. “Previously, we rented the pump for only six hours, but now it is longer,” he said.
To rent a pump, a farmer has to pay Rp 15,000 (US$1.59) to Rp 20,000 per hour. “I have to spend Rp 160,000 to Rp 180,000 per week on renting the pump,” Rasman said.
These additional expenses, Rasman said, further increased rice production costs in which each hectare of paddy field needed between Rp 4 and Rp 5 million to manage, he said.
“Money is mostly used to buy seedlings and fertilizer as well as to pay workers to tend the land. The costs will be higher with the additional expenses for renting the pumps,” he said.
Cirebon regency, which totals 989.7 square kilometers in area and has a population of 2.3 million people, is one of the major rice production regions in West Java after the regencies of Indramayu, Karawang and Subang.
