Yeoh En-lai – Bali's famous beaches and spas are not the only places experiencing a dry spell. The island's other hallmark, its lush-green, terraced paddy fields, are also facing long-term damage from a six-month long drought.
There has been no rain here since April and even the famous subak cooperative system of canals, aquaducts, waterlocks and dams may not be enough to save the island's second most important industry. Not even with spring and stream water is there enough water to supply to all the fields.
"Some farmers are leaving some fields to dry up and concentrating on a few," said Mr Ketut Silong, a 44-year-old farmer from Tanah Lot, one of Bali's biggest rice regions. "I haven't seen rain in six or seven months and the area is clearly experiencing a drought. Those who share a subak are being very careful," he added in Bahasa Indonesia. He proudly claims that many of the postcards that tourists purchase of Bali's rice terraces are those of his paddy fields.
Up to 15 farmers share a subak system on the hillslopes of the island's crop-producing regions. Close to 20 per cent of Bali's arable land is planted with paddy, the local agricultural board said, and its fragrant rice is not for export but goes to restaurants and hotels here.
"Fewer tourists mean fewer dollars and we don't know how much the restaurants and hotels will be able to buy anymore. We still have enough to supply them even though it has been a very, very bad year," added Mr Ketut who has been farming here since 1972.
On October 12, three bombs on the nightclub strip in Kuta killed over 180 people and injured more than 500. Since then, hotel occupancy rates have dipped 25 per cent to hover around the 50 per cent range. Almost every foreigner-dependent industry here is offering discounts.
The farmers in Tanah Lot, a 45-minute drive from Kuta, have been praying for rain almost every day. "Everything is dry. Farmers under the cooperative have to take turns with the water," added Mr Ketut. "Rice brokers who buy our rice are buying it at lower prices because they know we are getting desperate."
Rice and coffee are two of Bali's most famous agricultural products. Since tourism became a major feature of the island, farming has taken a backseat but is still the most important industry in the north and central areas here.
Mr Ketut said he now sells 100 sq m of paddy to the brokers for 70,000 rupiah. And with physical cracks in the ground showing up all over their land, the farmers sell much less now.
"If we're lucky, we can make about 200,000 rupiah profit now for every rice crop cycle," said Mr Putu Siling, another farmer in Tanah Lot. Each crop cycle is four months. The profit, he added, is not enough to purchase fertiliser, and that results in lower quality rice.
The farmers have had to shift their cash crops from water-dependent yields such as soybean, peanuts, onions, and chillies to corn and tapioca, he also said. There are two rice crop cycles to one cash crop cycle per year.
"Because we cannot afford insecticide, worms are also a major problem," he said. So what happens now? "We are dependent on rain, but also tourists so that we can sell the rice. We just have to hope and pray now," said Mr Ketut. "Maybe I can charge people for the postcards. But not now," he added with a wry smile.