D

espite grim predictions of drought and harvest failure on account of El Niño, the government remains optimistic that the country will survive the prolonged dry season with sufficient food stocks throughout the year.

'€œHarvests will continue until August. What we are looking at are [food stocks] in September to October,'€ Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said after a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office on Thursday. Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has predicted that the weather phenomenon will reach its peak in October.

'€œWe have been taking measures since January as mitigation efforts,'€ he added, saying that the government had built irrigation channels than span 1.3 million hectares, small dams and shallow wells. Amran'€™s office has also distributed 21,000 water pumps to farmers in areas prone to drought.

According to Amran, there are several areas currently experiencing drought, namely Indramayu and Cirebon in West Java; Demak, Pati and Grobogan in Central Java; Bojonegoro in East Java; and Timor Tengah Selatan regency in East Nusa Tenggara.

Amran said his office had saved around 100,000 ha of farmland this year in the country, where around 200,000 ha from a total of 8.1 million ha of farmland are prone to drought annually.

In line with the recent estimation made by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Amran was upbeat that the production of unhusked rice would reach 75.5 million tons this year, or an increase from 70.85 million tons last year.

'€œWe do hope so,'€ he said and later pointed out what he deemed as an adequate existing stockpile of 1.5 million tons.

The State Logistic Agency (Bulog) is now also working to ensure it will be able to acquire 2.5 million tons of rice in October.

BMKG head Andi Eka Sakya, who was invited to Thursday'€™s limited Cabinet meeting, said he reported to the President that '€œEl Niño could potentially get stronger'€.

In his opening speech during at meeting, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo said it was important to prepare for the implications of El Niño, particularly drought and the possibility of harvest failure.

Jokowi said the governors of East Java and South Sulawesi had told him that they predicted rice production to suffice.

Yet, despite the optimism of the government, a number of areas have expressed concern over the prolonged dry season.

West Java Agriculture and Food Crops Agency head Diden Trisnadi said that the prolonged dry season would significantly lower the rice production target in the province, which is also one of the country'€™s largest rice-producing regions.

'€œAs of today, there are 7,400 ha of paddy that has experienced harvest failure,'€ Diden told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Thursday.

Meanwhile in Sukoharjo, Central Java, farmers in six subdistricts harvested their paddy early due to the water crisis.

The farmers'€™ group leader in Kenep subdistrict, Hartono Raharjo, said at least 500 ha of paddy in the regency had been prematurely harvested to prevent further losses.

'€œIt is very difficult for us now to get water [for irrigation]. If we insist on harvesting the paddy until they reach normal, we will get broken rice grains as their stems will dry out and die,'€ Hartono said.

During the past several weeks, farmers in many regions in the country have reported difficulties in providing sufficient irrigation for their crops due to the long absence of rain, which has been triggered by El Niño. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has also reported that as many as 16 out of 34 provinces in the country are currently experiencing drought.