TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The drought that hit South Central Timor in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) has caused farmers in the area to experience crop failures, as a result, they are threatened by famine because food stocks are depleting.
The drought has hit two sub-districts, Kualin and Kolbano. Farmers' agricultural products, such as corn and rice, have dried out and died, as a result, they are experiencing crop failures. Ande Benu, a farmer in Toinekes village claimed that almost all corns that have been planted by the farmers there died. "Almost all planted corn ruined, because of lack of rain," he told reporters, Friday, March 7.
Benu said that the residents were forced to purchase corns at markets to meet their daily needs, because their rice barns have run out due to the crop failures. "What are left are only several ties of corn seeds for the next growing season," he said.
A similar case happened to Mika, also a farmer, hundreds of hectares of his rice field was ruined, because of erratic rainfall. Moreover, the rice seeds that have been spread did not grow well, because of minimum water supplies. "The seeds have been planted, but there’s water shortage. It hasn’t rained for a month," Mika explained.
Up to this moment, there is no aid from the local government to deal with the draught. The reason is because TTS Regent, Paul Mella was recently inaugurated on Thursday, March 6. "There is no aid from the government yet," Mika said. The regent has not been successfully contacted by reporters.
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