Indonesia
Archipelago
A number of regions in Indonesia are suffering from crop failures, as the onslaught of the warming El Niño climate phenomenon intensifies and may extend the dry season through next year, with rice production already dropping in the last three months.
A farmer walks through an rice field fed by the Cimulu tributary that has dried up on July 16 in Ciwasmandi hamlet, Sukajaya village, Purbaratu district, Tasikmalaya, West Java. (Antara/Adding Bustomi)
A number of regions in Indonesia are suffering from crop failures, as the onslaught of the warming El Niño climate phenomenon intensifies and may drag the dry season on until next year, with rice production already dropping in the last three months.In recent weeks, many farmers across Java, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and parts of Sumatra Island have suffered water shortages, according to the Indonesian Farmers Union (SPI). The union comprises more than a million farmers across the archipelago, most of whom cultivate water-intensive rice crops, a staple food for the country’s 280 million people.
