Dozens Of Hectares Of Rice Fields In Cianjur Failed To Harvest The Impact Of Land Movement, Causing Hundreds Of Millions Of Losses To Farmers

CIANJUR - Dozens of hectares of agricultural land already planted with rice in Rawabelut Village, Sukaresmi District, Cianjur, West Java, experienced crop failure. Most of the rice fields in the area experience land movement, so that tens of farmers have lost hundreds of millions of rupiah.

The head of Rawabelut Village, Sarip Hidayat, said that the movement of the land that occurred this year caused the harvest failure of the 13 hectares of newly planted rice fields because the depth of the land that collapsed continued to increase. Until now, the depth of ground movement has reached three meters that hit villages and rice fields.

"Approximately 13 hectares, most of which have been planted since two months ago, so it can be ascertained that all agricultural land has failed to harvest due to land movement. Each harvest, such an area, can produce dozens of tons of rice, so that the loss of farmers reaches hundreds of millions," he said as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 10.

The agricultural land in the area continues to decrease because in 2017, land movements that occurred caused 8 hectares of rice fields owned by farmers, mostly belonging to residents of Kampung Cipari, collapsed with various depths. The area can no longer be cultivated and this year the 13 hectares of rice fields are experiencing the same thing and are threatened that they can no longer be cultivated.

The farmer's rice field area is located on a hillside adjacent to the village, so it is prone to soil movement with a depth of up to 3 meters in each of the rice fields and it is estimated that the land can no longer be cultivated.

"In the previous year, dozens of hectares of rice fields had been converted into gardens because the cracks were deep. Most of the agricultural land in our village relies on rainfed water, making it difficult to switch from planting rice to secondary crops," he said.

Meanwhile, the Regent of Cianjur, Herman Suherman, said that he had assigned the head of the agriculture service to directly inspect the location and immediately provide assistance to farmers who were affected by land movement, various efforts will be made by his side with the relevant agencies so that land movement does not spread.

"We will directly observe what is needed by farmers in order to continue working on agricultural land. However, currently the team from the agriculture department and other related agencies are currently recording what is needed, including finding solutions so that land movement does not expand," he said. .