T

he central government is to support farmers whose harvests have failed due to prolonged droughts in a number of regions across the country.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said that the government had allocated some Rp 200 billion (US$21 million) for the purpose.

“This is for farmers whose crops failed,” Rusman said on the sidelines of ceremony to mark the first harvest of a new rice variety, yields of which could reach 12.5 tons of unhusked rice per hectare, in Pandak, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta on Wednesday.

The new variety, which has not yet been given a name, is expected to boost farmers’ productivity from its current level of between seven and eight tons of unhusked rice per hectare.

Rusman said the compensation that the central government had allocated was expected to help farmers to restart production. The compensation, he said, would be distributed through a technical team set up to conduct verification and authorization activities.

“Only farmers experiencing total harvest failures are eligible for the compensation. We will add more funds if the current cannot meet demands,” Rusman said.

Harvest failures, according to the deputy minister, loomed in a number of regions in the country, starting from West Java to parts of East Java due to the dry season. Ministry figures showed that up to 125,000 hectares had been affected by the drought.

“Presently, 3,000 hectares have been categorized as being in ‘complete failure’,” said Rusman.

Due to the poor conditions, he added, national rice production had decreased by 1.2 percent or some 450,000 tons out of the total 38 million tons of rice. Yet, he assured, the situation did not yet present a threat to national food security.

“We have enough of a supply that we don’t need to import rice yet. Any rice be imported would be for stockpiling purposes to prevent the scarcity of food,” Rusman said.

Suparman, a farmer in Bantul, said that the dry season has caused his harvest to fail. Unable to water his fields, Suparman’s seedlings soon dried up after they were planted.

He said he tried to survive by using a pump to irrigate some 1,500 square meters of his fields, but said the gasoline required to run the pump was expensive.

“The result was not optimal. I could not even reach a break-even point,” said the father of five.

Meanwhile, economist Enny Sri Hartati from the Institute of Development of Economy and Finance (IDEF) said that in addition to providing compensation, it was now time for the government to realign agriculture infrastructure.

Enny expressed concerns over the poor condition of agriculture irrigation networks in a number of regions. “It’s worrying to see many dams running out of water, thereby causing irrigation networks not to function properly,” Enny said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Without any improvements in infrastructure, expectations of achieving food security would be unrealistic, she said. “Don’t hope to have three harvests in one year if the infrastructure is not improved,” she said.

Enny urged the government to improve irrigation systems and step up its protection of forest areas.