Indonesian rice fields are drying up due to climate change, and rice is more expensive

• Mustafa Marqadi

  Southeast Asia Correspondent

As usual in August, the Delftah rice farmer pulls plants from his field. But where there used to be a slab of mud hanging from the roots of a cedar plant, it now drags with it dry earth upon a patch of weeds. “It hasn’t rained for a month and a half. My paddy field has completely dried up.”

Only weeds grow between the deep cracks in his field. It’s weeding instead of harvesting. “About 60 percent of my crops failed,” says Delfattah. This is similar to what his colleagues did around his village in northwest Java. Drive an hour in any direction from Lusarang and you’ll see almost nothing but dry rice fields.

barely. Because the people who live near the river can buy a pump to pump water through long hoses to their paddy fields Obtain. For example, a number of fields adjacent to the Delfta field are beautifully green and wet. “But I live two kilometers from the river. The pump and hoses cost me (Editor) 1,000 euros. This is so expensive that I can’t make a profit from the harvest anymore.”

About 70 percent of Indonesia is affected by the devastating drought. So harmful that at least eight people died in Papua due to lack of water or food due to crop failure. All as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

“This pushes moisture over Indonesia to the east,” says climate professor Daniel Mordiarso. “That’s why El Niño in Peru means heavy rain, and there’s almost none here.” He was part of the IPCC (United Nations Task Force on Climate Change) team that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

According to him, the El Niño phenomenon is now more common than usual. “We called it a 20-year event. But now it’s a six- or seven-year event. It’s also drier and hotter than usual.” It is the heat that has a great influence on rice cultivation.

“The fertile part of the rice plant is very sensitive. The temperature will rise more in the near future,” says the climate expert.

Indonesia is now at the height of the dry season. The current drought will continue until at least early October. This causes huge problems for rice cultivation. The country is the fourth largest producer of rice in the world. But it hardly comes out. With 140 kilograms annually, the Indonesian is also the largest rice-eater in the world. So the rice stays mainly in his own country.

But if rice crops continue to fail, Indonesia will have to import. The problem is that the two largest rice exporters also have to deal with climate problems. There is a drought in Thailand and after the floods India has limited rice exports. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the price of rice rose 3 percent in July to its highest price in twelve years.

Now that Indonesia also has to enter the global market, these prices will go up even more. Something the Dutch will also notice in the supermarket. According to Professor Mordiarso, we should no longer view climate change as simply rising temperatures and floods. “Look at what that would mean for your family. What would it cost you? What would it mean for your safety and health? The economic impact is something that people understand much better.”

In the meantime, he believes, the climate problem must be addressed. But Indonesia is mainly concerned with controlling symptoms. “Food aid is being sent to the hardest hit areas. Spraying chemicals into the clouds is also helping to make it rain artificially.”

In the area of ​​prevention, Indonesia appears to be falling short. “Indonesia is making progress in reducing logging, which is saving important ancient forests,” says the professor. But at the same time, the country remains highly dependent on coal. Several new factories are being built or planned. “The government should also focus on adaptation. For example, farmers can use rice plants that are more drought-tolerant,” says Mordiarso.

Dolfea is already using these plants, but she has hardly saved this crop. So in this dry season he works as a construction worker to survive. And he takes into account that he will have to stop working as a rice farmer in the future. “The weather and climate shouldn’t change any more. Because you can’t live that way.”