238 Hectares Of Rice Fields In Lebak Banten Are Threatened With Harvest Failure Due To Drought

Farmers in Tambakbaya Village, Lebak Regency saw his rice fields experience drought and are threatened with crop failure. (ANTARA/Mansur)

BANTEN - Center for Food Crop Protection and Horticulture (BPTPH) Banten Province. reported 238 hectares of rice fields in Lebak Regency were threatened with crop failure due to drought.

"We continue to strive to save rice plants with pumping systems, especially rice fields that have water surface sources," said Head of the Production Division of the Lebak Regency Agriculture Service, Deni Iskandar in Lebak, Banten, Tuesday, September 5, which was confiscated by Antara. The rice fields experiencing the drought covering an area of 238 hectares are spread across the Districts of Malingping, Cihara, Leuwidamar, Maja, Curugbitung, Sobang, Warunggunung, Rangkasbitung, and Kalanganyar. The drought continues to be monitored by Plant Disturbing Organism Control Officers (PPOPT) in each sub-district.

It is possible that if the dry season lasts until next October, the number of droughts will increase. Therefore, his party is now coordinating with the Banten Provincial Government for handling the impact of El Nino. "We are optimizing the special pumping of rice fields that have surface water sources so that they can suck water from the river," he explained. According to him, the drought that hit the rice fields followed the dry season or El Nino, where since three weeks there has been no rainfall. Most of the rice fields have drought because they do not have irrigation infrastructure.

Mereka melakukan gerakan tanam hanya mengandalkan curah hujan tinggi, sehingga bila kemarau dipastikan terancam gagal panen."Kami minta petani menjadi anggota asuransi jika gagal panen mendapatkan ganti rugi sesuai premi bulanan," katanya menjelaskan.Ketua Kelompok tani (Koptan) Sukabungah Kabupaten Lebak Ruhiana mengatakan pihaknya kini mengalami kerugian hingga Rp650 juta akibat tanaman padi mengalami kekeringan.Dari areal persawahan di wilayahnya seluas 150 hektare, hanya 20 hektare yang bisa panen dan mayoritas lahan dipastikan gagal panen."Biaya produksi produksi rata-rata Rp5 juta/hektar. Jadi kerugian mencapai Rp650 juta," katanya.