Government Prepares 500 Thousand Hectares Of Anticipating El Nino

PHOTOS OF DOK ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo said the government has prepared 500 thousand hectares of agricultural land to anticipate the prolonged dry impact due to El Nino.

El Nino drought, and drought carry limited water, heat that is enough to make productivity inevitably decrease. We will prepare 500 thousand hectares to anticipate El Nino," said Syahrul after a meeting at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 2.

Syahrul said that since the El Nino commemoration emerged this year, he has routinely conducted inspections to the regions and examined supporting facilities for rice production. He admitted that he had just checked a number of reservoirs and dams in various regions and found data that the irrigation function was still going well.

"I checked several reservoirs and our large dams, it turned out that the water was enough, and the big dams could last up to six months without rain," he said.

He said he had been actively coordinating with regional heads to anticipate El Nino. Syahrul also admitted that he had mapped the worst impact on rice stocks due to El Nino in Indonesia in August-September 2023.

"We can prepare a possible production shortage affected by El Nino of around 300 thousand tons to 1.2 million tons. I have just returned from seven provinces today, and seven provinces have stated their readiness for the land we concentrate on tomorrow if there is a problem about El Nino for the national interest," he said.

Syahrul said the production land to anticipate El Nino was located in North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Central Java, West Java, East Java, and South Sulawesi.

Then, the government also prepared buffer areas for production in South Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, Banten, and Lampung.

That way, Syahrul is optimistic that he can control the impact of El Nino so as not to interfere with national food stocks, especially rice.

Until now, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, rice stocks and prices are still maintained. The government until September 2023, said Syahrul, still has an excess of 2.7 million tons of rice.

"From every month there is still 800 thousand hectares of harvest, it produces enough for our daily needs of around 2 million (tons)," he said.