KABAT – Rain accompanied by strong winds has hit a number of areas in Banyuwangi over the past few days, starting to have an impact on farmers' rice crops. Dozens of hectares of rice plants are ready to be harvested in Pondok Nongko Village, District of Kabat, collapsed due to being hit by rain and wind yesterday (5/4).
This condition causes farmers to suffer huge losses. To reduce greater losses, Some farmers are also forced to harvest early. Because, if rice plants continue to be allowed to collapse in the fields, The rice grains will be submerged in water and easily separate from the stalks, resulting in decreased yields.
Ahmadi, one of the farm workers said, Many rice plants were damaged and collapsed due to high rainfall. even though, The rice plants he cares for are almost harvested. “It's just a matter of waiting for the day, but it turned out that it had collapsed before being hit by rain and strong winds," he said.
Because of these conditions, he was forced to harvest his rice crop early. Nevertheless, This will greatly influence the quality of the harvest and the selling price of grain. Because after being hit by strong winds, many rice plants collapsed.
If not harvested immediately, then the harvest could fail. Because, Many rice paddies have started to grow or fall off and become damaged. Another farmer, Arief, admitted that he also experienced something similar. Rice plants planted on land 500 square meters almost completely collapsed.
However, because the rice plants are still not really old, forced himself to erect the fallen rice plant by slowly tying it with a rope. “If it is not tied, it could collapse again if it is swept away by strong winds,He said.
Head of Agriculture Service, Arief Setiawan said, The rainy season accompanied by strong winds is very vulnerable to rice plants which can collapse at any time. Regarding how many areas of rice plants were damaged due to the strong winds, His party is also still continuing to collect data on several locations
"Our officers are working to determine how much rice land was destroyed due to the heavy rain and wind,said Arief. Therefore, He appealed to farmers to actively coordinate with field extension officers (PPL) in each region to avoid losses.
“The rainy season is very prone to attacks on plants, especially rice. Therefore, We ask farmers to actively coordinate and communicate with PPL,"he said. (radar)
