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In East Java, climate change takes a bite out of apple crops
It is officially the start of the dry season in East Java province, but non-stop rains have caused havoc for thousands of apple growers like Akhbar again this year - upsetting the flowering season, damaging blossoms and shrinking harvests.
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Arborist Sylvain Kupperroth holds a rotten apple, destroyed by the heat as he checks his orchard on July 23, 2019, in Longué-Jumelles near Saumur, western France. Farmers are waiting for the authority's decision concerning water restrictions and rationing in the Vallee de l’Authion fed by the River Loire as a new heatwave blasts across western Europe setting new records in several countries. (AFP/Guillaume Souvant)
A
s dark clouds gather in the morning sky, Indonesian apple farmer Ali Akhbar hurries to finish spraying pesticides onto his trees before yet another afternoon downpour.
It is officially the start of the dry season in East Java province, but non-stop rains have caused havoc for thousands of apple growers like Akhbar again this year - upsetting the flowering season, damaging blossoms and shrinking harvests.
The unseasonable weather has also caused an increase in pests and diseases, forcing some growers to take out loans to keep up with the surging cost of pesticides to ensure years of work do not go to waste.
"It's so difficult now - the weather is unpredictable," Akhbar, 49, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at Andonosari village in East Java, which is home to the country's largest apple orchards.
He used to spray pesticides on his crops once a week, but has to do it twice weekly now, and uses more potent chemicals.
After years of similarly unpredictable weather, disappointing harvests are barely enough to cover farmers' production costs, said Akhbar.
Agriculture experts blame climate change for the prolonged rainy season and a rise in temperatures that pose a serious threat to Indonesian apple farming, a sector that once brought stable incomes for thousands of rural families.
