Jabar Ekspres – The Department of Food Crops and Horticulture (DTPH) of West Java Province has asked farmers to accelerate planting time while rainfall is still falling, as a form of anticipation of the impact of drought following the arrival of the El Nino phenomenon.
“First, we accelerate planting. So actually now it is still because there are remnants of rain. So we are accelerating the planting,” said Head of Food Crops Division of West Java Province DTPH Yanti Hidayatun Zakiyah, at the Jabar Punya Informasi (Japri) event at Gedung Sate, Bandung City, West Java, Wednesday.
Based on estimates from the Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency (BMKG), the El Nino phenomenon is predicted to occur until January 2024.
In addition to urging the public to accelerate planting time while rainfall is still falling, said Yanti, the West Java DTPH also asked farmers to switch to drought-resistant varieties of crops such as beans and tubers.
“Use drought-resistant and short-lived varieties between 85 to 95 days. Such as peanuts, soybeans, green beans and tubers,” she said.
Yanti said the impact of drought due to El Nino will be felt throughout West Java, while the most drought-prone areas are in the North Coast (Pantura) of West Java such as Indramayu Regency and Karawang Regency.
“(The) El Nino phenomenon is expected until January 2024. Drought-prone areas are mostly in the Pantura, such as Indramayu, which has the largest area of almost 230,000 hectares and the majority of it is rice fields. Then Karawang, so we are focusing on the Pantura area which is a drought-prone area,” said Yanti.
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Based on data from the last 10 years, Yanti said, the amount of drought in West Java averaged 32,000 hectares caused by El Nino.
“If we look at the last 10 years, the data on drought in West Java is fluctuating. And the highest occurred in 2015 and 2019 up to 95,000 hectares. But the average over the last 10 years is 32,000 hectares of drought that occurred in West Java due to El Nino,” said Yanti.
