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Cirebon farmers to replace rice with secondary crops

JAKARTA POST
August 5, 2009
By Nana Rukmana

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Farmers in Cirebon regency, a center for rice production in West Java, have begun to replace their rice crops with secondary crops in anticipation of a prolonged dry season caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The shift from rice to secondary crops will also break a chain of pest attacks expected to become widespread ahead of the second planting season.

About 5,000 hectares of rice paddies in Ciwaringin, Gegesik, Susukan, Plumbon, Kaliwedi, Astanajapura, South Cirebon, Tengah Tani, Arjawinangun, Kapetakan, Suranenggala and Pangenan districts will be replaced with secondary crops.

"Besides drought, the farmland is also prone to pest attacks," said head of the Cirebon Agriculture, Plantation and Livestock Agency, Ali Effendi.

He added his office has urged farmers in the area to grow green beans, soybeans and corn during the second planting season, which begins at the end of August.

"We advise farmers to grow green beans, soybeans and corn because they are more drought resistant. The secondary crops could also break the chain of pest attacks," Ali said.

Around 1,500 hectares of rice crops in Cirebon have reportedly been damaged by the drought. The worst effected areas include Kapetakan, Gunungjati, Suranenggala, Lemahabang, Mundu, Astanajapura and Tengah Tani districts.

Pest have destroyed crops in Gegesik, Kaliwedi, Arjawinangun, Dukuh Puntang and Kecamatan Susukan districts.

"We are still assessing the damaged areas, but hundreds of hectares have certainly been effected," said Ali.

He added that pest attacks are prevalent ahead of the second planting season, when soil moisture is high, facilitating breeding. "Farmers often do not anticipate such conditions."

Crops most prone to pest attacks include cimalaya and glutinous rice varieties aged between 20 and 50 days. "Both rice varieties are apparently susceptible to pest attacks," Ali said.

Farmers have suffered huge losses because of the pests.

Lukman, a farmer in Dukuh Puntang district, said he had lost Rp 6 million (US$600) worth of crops after his 700-square-meter farm was ravaged by pests.

"I can no longer harvest my rice because it has been badly damaged. To farmers like me that amount of damage is quite a lot," Lukman said.

The Cirebon regency administration will provide affected farmers with secondary crop seedlings.

"We urge them to replace their damaged rice crops with secondary crops to minimize loss. We will provide them with green bean, soybean and corn seedlings," Ali said.

However, El Nino, which effects many parts of Indonesia, has not had an affect on rice farmers in Central Sulawesi, the province's State Logistics Agency (Bulog) said Tuesday.

"El Nino is predicted to last a few months and therefore it will not have a significant impact on rice stocks here," local Bulog spokesman Tatang Sutarna said, as quoted by Antara.

He said the present stock of 13,000 tons of rice in Central Sulawesi was sufficient enough to meet the regions needs for the next six months.

Tatang said drought in the province had not effected agricultural production in Central Sulawesi, and therefore there would rice harvests in Donggala district in August, and more harvests in Luwuk and Toili in September.

"Rice harvests in Central Sulawesi do not happen simultaneously like those in Java because the province has a different harvest season, and rice stocks are always available," Tatang said.

The central government continues to anticipate the effects of the El Nino phenomenon, which could cause drought in some parts of Indonesia in late 2009 and early 2010.

"The government will also continue the subsidized rice program for 17.5 million targeted households, allocating 15 kilograms per household over a 12 month period," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said during his presentation of the 2010 draft state budget in Jakarta on Monday.

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