Dry season, but intensity of rain still very high

Now entering second half of 2022, agricultural sector is off to a great start, while all other sectors grew negative, agricultural sector growth remained positive. For such a phenomenon, it is not wrong that many people call the agricultural sector the "savior god" of development.

Agricultural sector in my country has always been main sector of country's economy. We must maintain this momentum so that agricultural sector can remain a mainstay sector. But lately we have been surprised by phenomenon of wet drought.

Although Covid-19 pandemic is already showing signs of slowing down, government is also currently alert regarding wet dry season which is predicted to occur in the next three months and will peak in August 2022.

Impact of wet drought was felt for farmers. In previous years, in May-June, farmers were able to plant horticultural commodities such as chili or shallots. This year, on the other hand, in May and June intensity of rain is still high, even now in August intensity of rain is still high and causing flooding in some areas.

Many farmers experienced crop failure due to "mistakes" calculations. It is considered that starting in May, which normally should have entered dry season, rainfall has decreased and farmers can plant, in fact opposite is true. Increasing intensity of rain will cause flooding in land, so that it will cause failure at planting which in end farmers cannot plant or harvest.

But apart from negative impact, wet drought can also have a positive impact on agriculture, namely increase in rainfall intensity will be beneficial for areas that are dry and do not have good irrigation. This will make availability of water in these areas sufficient, and farmers in these areas can carry out planting activities, such as in Papua and other eastern parts of Indonesia.

Hopefully this phenomenon will continue to provide positive benefits for all farmers, and I believe that millennial farmers already have various strategies to overcome wet dry season like now so that they can continue to carry out planting and harvesting activities.