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armers and fish breeders in Kulonprogo, Yogyakarta, and Purwakarta, West Java, say they face harvest failures following heavy rains.

In Kulonprogo, prolonged downpours on Thursday and Friday have inundated hundreds of hectares of rice fields near the Menoreh mountain range after a rain-gorged nearby river overflowed its banks.

“The affected rice fields are spread throughout a number of districts in Kulonprogo,” Galur district head Latnyana said on Friday.

Wanto, a farmer from Galur, said that he and his neighbors would be ruined if the flood waters did not
recede by Saturday at the latest.

“The padi [rice seedlings] were just planted. Some are even still in the seedbeds,” Wanto said.

According to the Wanto, the seedbeds would be fine if the floods receded by Saturday. Farmers would simply have to replace any seedlings damaged or washed away by the flood waters.

Meanwhile, in nearby Bantul, hundreds of hectares of rice fields that were ready for harvest and several plantations containing two-month-old rice have been inundated by floodwaters.

Separately, in Purwakarta, about 70 kilometers east of Jakarta, continuous heavy rain has led to sediment from the bottom of the reservoir of the 105-meter Jatiluhur Dam to surface.

Thousands of fish cultivated in the reservoir in floating net pools by local breeders have died in the murky waters.

Imel, 40, a foreman overseeing 52 floating net pools, said that the fish started dying after the sediment
appeared last week.

“Effectively, we will not be able to harvest,” Imel said.

He said about 100 kilograms of fish stock had been added to each pool for cultivation.

Pools are expected to yield about a ton of fish over three months. A harvest failure will lead to losses of around Rp 2.8 million (US$290) per pool.

“Just one pool can produce a loss of up to Rp 145 million,” Imel said,

To minimize their losses, fish breeders are harvesting surviving fish, which they must sell at a loss.

The normal salesprice is Rp 14,500 per kilogram. Iyan, another worker said that the current harvest would be sold for about Rp 7,000 per kilogram.

“It’s better than having them all die,” Iyan said.

According to the West Java Fisheries Agency, there are 17,000 floating net fish-pools at Jatiluhur.

A harvest failure could result in losses topping Rp 2 billion for the 3,000 fish tenders in the area, agency head Ahmad Hadadi said.

Hadadi attributed the rise of the sediment and the death of the fish to the continuous heavy rains, a lack of sunlight and strong winds, which combined to lower surface temperatures on the surface of the reservoir. Sediment and decomposing organic materials located in relatively warmer waters underneath then rose as the colder water sunk.

“As a result, the oxygen level is low and the fish have died,” Hadadi said.

At risk are the 100,000 tons of fish harvested from the dam’s reservoir every year, according to the agency chief.

Purwakarta Husbandry and Fisheries Agency head Hery Herawan said that the effects of the cooling waters of the reservoir could be mitigated, calling on the fish breeders to harvest their remaining fish for immediate sale.

He also advised against cultivating new fish stock until conditions have returned to normal, or, if all else failed, to cultivate patin (catfish) and gurame (freshwater carp). “They are strong and can survive such conditions,” he said.