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armers are worried that a drought may ruin thousands of hectares of rice fields in several regencies in Lampung, including South, Central and East Lampung, Tanggamus, Pringsewu and Pesawaran.

In Pringsewu, hectare after hectare of two-month old rice plants were reportedly on the brink of destruction after a drought hit the regency, forcing local farmers to rent pumps to irrigate their fields using water from nearby rivers.

“The problem has worsened as the Way Napel River, the main source of irrigation water, also has a reduced flow. This is ironic because the river originates from South Bukit Barisan National Park,” Suyudi, chairman of the Pringsewu Farmers Alliance, said on Monday.

In Sragi district, South Lampung, more than 3,000 hectares of rice fields were also facing ruin.

Bejo Aditstyo, the technical head of the district’s Agriculture, Crop and Horticulture Agency, said the worst-hit regions were Kualasekampung, Sukapura, Mandalasari and Bandaragung.

“They are actually located near the Way Sekampung River but the river, unfortunately, is very shallow and is unable to irrigate the fields. It is even difficult to pump water from it,” Bejo said.

The Lampung provincial administration is currently compiling estimates of possible losses due to the drought and is expected to forward a report to the central government for compensation.

The administration and the central government are expected to meet later this week in Yogyakarta to discuss the situation.

Harvest failures were previously recorded in several provinces, including Central Java, West Java, Riau, Yogyakarta, West Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara.

Aside from droughts, the harvest failures were caused by attacks of planthoppers, white rice stem borers and rats.

Agriculture Minister Suswono previously said the number of harvest failures in 2011 was less than last year’s figure due to better weather and a smaller pestilence problem.

Lampung Crop and Horticulture Agency head Bihikmi Soefian said the government would compensate for farmers for ruined seedlings.

“We have asked all municipal and regency agricultural agencies to focus on the impact of the dry season and the pests,” Bihikmi said.

He said he was optimistic that the drought would not stop the province from meeting a production target of 2.9 million tons of dry, unhusked rice this year, up 5 percent from 2.5 million tons in 2010.

The area of Lampung dedicated to rice cultivation was 138,000 hectares as of April, up 20,000 hectares from 2010.

Bihikmi said he did not have comprehensive information on the number of regions threatened as administrations were still compiling reports.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa previously said compensation would be paid to farmers who suffered a harvest failure equal to 75 percent of their crop.

The compensation, expected to total Rp 2.6 million (US$301) per hectare, would be given to compensate for labor costs.

According to Presidential Decree No. 5/2011 on rice production security, which regulates compensation paid to farmers, regional administrations are obliged to share the compensation paid to farmers and to maintain production growth above 5 percent.