Working With Mother Nature
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Climate Change in Indonesia
January 2008
Floods and droughts are common in Indonesia, but what is uncommon is the rate at which these climatic shocks are occurring.
This year, for instance, farmers in Central Java are facing significant crop losses, not only because this is a particularly hot year, but also because rainfall patterns are changing quite dramatically.
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| Padi Slegreng seedlings in a nursery, ready for planting. |
Without Warning
When the rains started a few weeks early this year, you wouldn’t have thought that would be a big problem – a few extra days of rain could benefit the plants. But the rains stopped just after most farmers planted their fields, confident that rainy season had started.
By the time the rains returned in early December, most plants had either died or been severely damaged. Farmers didn’t have the seed stocks to replant.
Fortunately, not all farmers were left high and dry. In Gunung Kidul, a hilly district south of Yogyakarta, the Sido Makmur farmer group has been working with USC’s partner, SATUNAMA, to conserve and multiply traditional seed varieties and increase farmer’s awareness about the importance of planting local seeds – including a local variety of rice called Padi Slegreng.
Resilient Rice
The Padi Slegreng variety is really showing its resilience. In fact, it’s thriving in part because of the dry spell in late November. It grows well in areas with low or sporadic rainfall. Farmers who realized the rains might stop planted Padi Slegreng as a form of insurance. It paid off. When the rains returned, the Padi Slegreng was thirsty but alive.
This variety is not only tolerant of dry conditions, but needs little fertilizer, has a shorter growing season than the government-promoted hybrid varieties and is rich in vitamin B. Farmers who planted Padi Slegreng rice will be in good shape come harvest time.
Padi Slegreng is one of more than a dozen local seed varieties that the Sido Makmur farmer group is conserving. Access to and knowledge about these varieties – when to use them, what conditions they grow in – has given this farmer group a real advantage as they continue to deal with an ever-changing and challenging climate.
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USC Canada
was founded by
Dr Lotta Hitschmanova in 1945. Our award-winning Seeds of Survival program promotes vibrant family farms, strong rural communities, and healthy ecosystems around the world.
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