Indonesia: Drought Sets In Across Java, Threatening Livelihoods and Food Security

Ari Susanto & Vento Saudale Jakarta Globe 3 Aug 15;

Government officials are concerned rice production will be hampered by the drought. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)

Solo/Bogor/Jakarta. The Central Java government has earmarked funds in anticipation of a clean-water crisis during this year’s dry season, which is expected to be unusually long due to the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Officials have expressed concerns that such a severe drought throughout the province could threaten food security across Java, as the area’s rice paddies are one of the country’s main sources.

“We have decided to allocate Rp 20 billion [$1.4 million] to lessen drought and water deficiency in impacted villages by distributing clean water,” Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said in Solo over the weekend

However, Ganjar said one remaining problem is that water sources used for irrigation continue to deplete and eventually crops will fail. The government, he said, was seeking solutions by providing ground water for farming.

“The most plausible way is installing deep wells in farm field areas. Otherwise the farmer will harvest nothing,” he said.

In February, President Joko Widodo visited Sukoharjo and urged farmers in Central Java to increase paddy crops by two million tons to reach almost 12 million tons this year. Joko targeted rice production to support his goal of achieving a national rice surplus by 2017 so that the government can end rice imports.

With around 1.8 million hectares of farm field, Central Java produced 10 million tons rice in 2013, which slightly dropped to 9.6 million tons in 2014. Despite the drought, Ganjar was still optimistic paddy production in Central Java would meet the target.

The Central Java Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) has spotted around 500 villages in the province that are experiencing water crises, mainly in the south and northern parts of the province, including in Wonogiri, Sukoharjo, Klaten, Sragen, Boyolali, Purworejo, Kebumen, Cilacap, Purbalingga, Brebes, Tegal, Pemalang, Jepara, Demak, Rembang, Pati, Grobogan and Blora.

BPBD head Sarwa Pramana said that drought would be worse this year as the dry season was predicted to end in or even after November. The Indonesian dry season rarely lasts beyond October.

Five of the 39 dam lakes in the province have already dried up — three in Sragen and one each in Pati and Grobogan – while water levels in more than 15 other dam lakes continue to diminish.

In Klaten, the local government has announced a drought emergency response. The Klaten BPBD has allocated Rp 500 million ($37,000) as it anticipates low water levels in around 34 villages. The agency has already distributed 500,000 liters of clean water to residents.

Meanwhile, around 7,000 hectares of rain-irrigated paddy fields in north Boyolali have been left unplanted as no rain has fallen during the dry season. The area now consists of completely dry terrain with insufficient ground water for irrigation.

“The farmers wait for rain to plant paddy as there are no other water sources,” said Bambang Purwadi, a Boyolali agriculture official.

102 Indonesian districts suffer from drought: Mitigation Agency
Antara 1 Aug 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesia National Disaster Mitigation Agency has said that at least 102 districts in Indonesia are experiencing drought due to the lack of natural water supplies and the ongoing dry season.

The Head of Public Relation of the agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said there is currently a reduction of some 20 billion cubic meters of water in some areas.

"To date, droughts have occurred in 721 sub-districts in 102 districts or cities of 16 provinces in Indonesia," Sutopo said here on Saturday.

Several provinces that are suffering from droughts include Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bengkulu, Papua, and East Nusa Tenggara.

Sutopo added that West Nusa Tenggara, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi, Lampung, Riau, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, as well as Bali, have also experienced drought.

The government noted that provinces that are suffering from droughts have been located in Central Java, West Java, East Java, Lampung, South Sumatra and Bali.

The droughts also affect 111,000 hectares of agricultural fields, which are now parched lands. The agency predicted the condition will expand to other areas.

The drought in Indonesia has been occurring for more than ten years.

"According to the National Development Planning Board's research in 2003, there were 92 districts in Java Island which suffered from a lack of water from one to eight months of the year," Sutopo said.

Further, at least 38 areas out of 92 districts have water shortages more than eight months each year.

Additionally, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the construction of water reservoirs in several areas in Indonesia have become part of an important effort to handle drought. Thus, Kalla supports the accelerated construction of water reservoirs.
(Uu.B019/INE/KR-BSR/F001)

Ministry prepares Rp 880b to anticipate drought
thejakartapost.com 3 Aug 15;

The Agriculture Ministry says it has specially allocated Rp 880 billion (US$65.12 million) to anticipate the impacts of drought on the agriculture sector.

Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said in Jakarta on Monday that the ministry had readied Rp 2 trillion to repair tertiary irrigation systems nationwide.

“The House of Representatives Commission IV, which oversees agriculture, has just given us approval to use Rp 880 billion of the total budget to tackle drought in several areas,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency after a coordination meeting on drought at the ministry.

Representatives of relevant institutions, such as the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, attended the meeting.

Amran said that at present, around 17,000 hectares of the total 9.2 million ha of paddies in Indonesia had suffered harvest failure due to drought. They were located in Central Java, Lampung and West Java, among other areas.

He said the government had anticipated the long dry spell, which began in December 2014, by, among others things, distributing 21,000 water pumps to farmers, developing 1,000 embung (small artificial lakes) and repairing 1.3 million ha of tertiary irrigation systems.

Amran said the government had expanded the coverage of paddies by 400,000 ha during the period of October-March, to compensate for harvest failure in several areas.

The minister said only around 110,000 ha of agricultural land had been affected by drought so far this year, lower than 250,000 last year.

Commission IV head Edhy Prabowo said the government must focus its attention on tackling the drought. He said the commission supported the Agriculture Ministry’s work on the issue, including by allowing the ministry to shift a portion of its budget to cover drought-tackling efforts in several areas. (ebf)(+++)