180 Hectare Of Rice Fields In Torue Parigi Moutong Damaged By Flood

The flooded rice fields BETWEEN PHOTO/Idhad Zakaria

PARIMO - Parigi Moutong (Parimo) Regency Government (Parimo), Central Sulawesi said around 180 hectares of rice fields in Torue Sub-district were heavily damaged by the flood.

"The 180 hectares that were heavily damaged have to print new paddy fields because they are filled with mud," said Parigi Moutong, Head of the Food Crops, Horticulture and Plantation Service (TPHP), Dadang Priatna Jaya when met in Torue, Parigi Moutong, Monday, August 1 .

He explained that his side conducted a quick study of approximately 700 hectares of submerged rice fields in Torue District, and 636 hectares submerged in Balinggi District. But in Balinggi only submerged due to the impact of the annual cycle.

Therefore, his party is still conducting field studies to identify other affected rice fields.

"This data is still temporary, it is possible that it could increase as studies continue. Studies on agriculture will also be entered into the information database at the main post," said Dadang.

In addition to destroying rice fields, flash floods also damaged agricultural production enclaves in Torue, including clogging irrigation canals due to deposition of silt material.

"The affected fields have entered the planting schedule, as a result, farmers lose money because they have fertilized," said Dadang.

He stated that the agency's next efforts were to identify land, as well as identify the need for seeds, fertilizers and normalize affected lands so that farmers could return to planting.

Assistance for the needs of the agricultural sector will be coordinated with the Central Sulawesi Government so that the response efforts are quickly resolved.

"This incident is not certain to affect the annual production target of the region, because there are still central areas that are also supported by the 400 Planting Index (IP400) program," said Dadang.