No more fires in Indonesia? Blazes on Sumatran peatland say otherwise
Mongabay.com
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Tech for urban farming among R&D focus as Singapore looks to beef up food security
Tang See Kit Channel NewsAsia 27 Mar 19;
SINGAPORE: As part of his job, Liew Woei Chang keeps a close eye on hundreds of tilapia fish daily.
But the 39-year-old does not work in the fish trade. In fact, the tilapia that he monitors possess quite an atypical trait.
A freshwater fish, tilapias tend to grow slower or face high mortality rates when reared in sea water. Together with four other researchers, Dr Liew, a research investigator at the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), has been looking at how to change that.
Eight years since the research programme started, the team has “almost achieved” that.
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Malaysia, Johor: Hot spells caused 15 major fires
nelson benjamin The Star 28 Mar 2019;
JOHOR BARU: The present hot and dry spell has caused 15 major fires in six states, destroying land equivalent to the size of nearly 450 football fields.
Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Mohammad Hamdan Wahid (pic) said the 15 hotspots involved peat soil, farms and estates, landfill, forest and plantations covering some 239ha of land.
Mohammad Hamdan said the hotspots included six in Sarawak, Pahang (four), Johor (two), and one each in Kedah, Kelantan and Perak.
“Most of the major fires have been put out and so far there are still 56ha to be doused,” he said, adding that there was a landfill fire the size of 3.23ha, which had been raging in Kota Tinggi in Johor for about three weeks.
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El Niño 2019: Possible impact in Indonesia
Yopi Ilhamsyah Jakarta Post 27 Mar 19;
The worst ever recorded El Niño of 2015 caused the world’s weather to change. Presently El Niño is predicted to be more frequent, turning into a major climate anomaly threat. Given its normal 5-year return period, its early appearance this year has raised alarm bells. It is feared that El Niño-affected regions in Indonesia will severely suffer from sufficient water resources that might alter the planting season, reducing agricultural productivity and threatening national food security.
Many studies have revealed a strong correlation between El Niño and rainfall variability which further leads to retreat of the rainfall onset in Indonesia. A significant shift of the rainy season is found as El Niño signs strengthen, causing a prolonged dry season. Based on monthly average rainfall characteristics in 30 years, Indonesia is identified to have three main types of climatic zones, i.e., monsoonal, equatorial, and local type climates. The peak of the rainy season of the monsoonal type climate occurs in January-February. Meanwhile for the equatorial type climate (e.g., Aceh, North and West Sumatera, Riau and Kalimantan), two peaks of rainfall are found in March and October.
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Indonesia: Flash flood strikes Ulu Ogan, South Sumatra
Antara 28 Mar 19;
A flash flood hit Kelumpang Village, Ulu Ogan Sub-district, Ogan Komering Ulu District, in South Sumatra Province, on Tuesday evening, following incessant heavy rain that triggered the Kepayang River to overflow its bank (Antara photo)
Baturaja, South Sumatra (ANTARA) - A flash flood hit Kelumpang Village, Ulu Ogan Sub-district, Ogan Komering Ulu District, in South Sumatra Province, on Tuesday evening, following incessant heavy rain that triggered the Kepayang River to overflow its bank.
The flooding did not last long, but it was among the worst experienced in the past 15 years, Dadang, a resident of Kelumpang, noted.
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