Failed Harvest on 400 Hectares of Rice Field in Gunung Kidul

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

Drought affects agricultural land in Rejosari village, Semin district, Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta, as seen on Friday (21/6/2019). Based on data from the Agriculture and Food Office of Gunung Kidul regency, there are 400 hectares of rice fields that have been damaged by drought.

WONOSARI, KOMPAS — About 400 hectares of rice fields in Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta, are in puso or failed harvest due to drought. The area of failed farmland is far greater than last year. This year\'s dry season has come early.

"There are 400 hectares of farmland in 10 districts where the rice crops cannot be harvested," said Gunung Kidul Food and Agriculture Office food crops head Raharjo Yuwono on Friday (21/6/2019) in Gunung Kidul.

According to Gunung Kidul Food and Agriculture Office data, the 10 districts are Patuk with 194 ha of failed crops, Semin with 75 ha, Ngawen with 35 ha, Ponjong with 32 ha, Gedangsari with 25 ha, Playen with 13 ha, Karangmojo with 10 ha, Nglipar with 8 ha, Girisubo with 6 ha and Wonosari with 2 ha.

Most farmland in puso is rain-fed land that relies on rainwater for irrigation. "The worst hit is the mountainous area without water sources that only relies on rainwater," he said.

Raharjo said the crop failure caused a potential income loss of around Rp 6 billion. In detail, 1 ha of farmland produces 4-5 tons of grain. The price of grain is Rp 3,700 per kilogram.

Last year, puso farmland only comprised 32 hectares. The puso area is larger this year because the dry season this year started earlier. "In the third week of April, the rain stopped. In 2018, the rain just stopped at the end of May," he said.

As observed by Kompas in the village of Rejosari, Semin district, rice plants were drying up. The farmland was cracked due to drought. A farmer from the Klepu hamlet, Rejosari village, Toyo Harwanto, 67, said that the rice on his 1 ha farmland could not be harvested. In fact, he had spent Rp 5 million during the crop planting. Since the crop planting in March, it had only rained once in his hamlet. In fact, the land only relies on rainwater for irrigation. Meanwhile, near the dry season, a number of farmers in Karawang, West Java, were determined to continue planting rice even though the water volume had begun to shrink.

Deden Sautul, 33, a farmer in Kiara village, Cilamaya Kulon district, on Friday, said that a number of farmers decided to delay plowing, seeding and planting rice because the water volume in the irrigation canal was minimal.

Similar conditions were complained about by a number of farmers in Mekarjati, West Karawang district; Ciranggon village, Majalaya district; and Telagasari village, Telagasari district. Bagoto, 56, a farmer in Ciranggon village, complained about the small water flow. He had delayed plowing the farmland he cultivated.

Data from the Karawang Agriculture Office, as of mid-June, from 78,482 hectares of the planting target on rain-reliant farmland (known as gadu planting season), only 14,735 ha of rice fields in Karawang have been planted.

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

A farmer shows the harvest failure on his land, which was affected by drought in Rejosari village, Semin district, Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta, on Friday (21/6/2019). Based on data from the Agriculture and Food Office of Gunung Kidul regency, there were 400 hectares of rice plants that were damaged by drought.

Perum Jasa Tirta (PJT) II operational director Antonius Aris said actually the water supply was sufficient. However, the amount of water was reduced in the distribution process, one reason being sedimentation and narrowing of the canal. Some of the water was lost before reaching the rice fields.

Opening two dams

In East Java, the PJT I opened two dams to address water needs at the beginning of this dry season. The two dams are Sutami Dam in Malang regency and Wonorejo Dam in Tulungagung regency. "On Thursday

night, we got a complaint about the declining water level for irrigation. On Friday morning, we took steps to increase the water supply for Surabaya by releasing water from the Sutami and Wonorejo dams," said PJT I managing director Raymond Valiant Ruritan in Malang.

"The volume of water being released was 4-5 cubic meters per second. The aim was to ensure that water entering the Brantas River reach the downstream and could provide the PDAMs [tap water] in the cities of Mojokerto, Sidoarjo and Surabaya," he said.

The area of irrigated land in the Brantas River region, according to Raymond, is 200,000 ha. However, 53,000 ha of it gets water directly from the dam system; 80,000 ha gets water from the water supply system managed by the Public Housing Agency I and the remaining relies on the rain or gets irrigation from other rivers.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency Juanda meteorology station stated that most of East Java is now entering the dry season.

A number of regions, including four villages in Suradadi district, Tegal regency, Central Java, have begun submitting requests for clean water assistance. In Demak regency, around 100 villages are expected to experience drought starting in July. Measures have been carried out by providing clean water and appealing to the village heads to use the village funds for efforts to provide clean water.

Difficulties in ensuring a clean water supply began to occur in Trosono village, Parang district, Magetan regency, East Java. The local BPBD (Disaster Mitigation Agency) last Tuesday began distributing clean water. The BPBD of Ponorogo regency has begun to identify villages in the region that have the potential for a clean water crisis.

Mekarsari village, Pulomerak district, Cilegon City, Banten, was also hit by drought so residents had to queue since dawn at a water source. (HRS/MEL/XTI/DIT/NIK/BAY/DIA)