M. Azis Tunny, Maluku – Large expanses of dry rice fields stretch out over Pasahari plateau in North Seram district, Central Maluku regency, where farmers are not able to use their fields optimally due to problems with irrigation.
Not far from the rice fields, the residents live in harmony and use the Javanese language in their daily lives, which is heavily influenced by Javanese culture.
The residents, most of whom are farmers, came from Java years ago on a transmigration program organized by the government. They have lived here ever since, cultivating the isthmus into a farming area.
The government sent the first transmigrants to Kobisonta, North Seram, in 1982.
Now, as many as 6,649 households, the inhabitants of which are originally from Java, are spread over 18 locations in North Seram. The local administration has assisted 5,617 households, which are now independent, and is currently assisting more than 1,000 others.
Although they have lived in the area for years, the transmigrants still face a perennial problem; there is no reliable irrigation system to support their farming. The farmers experience a lack water during the dry season and often face floods in the wet season. This situation influences the quality of their crops.
"The floods that swamp our rice fields are caused by illegal logging in the mountains," the Waiputih village secretary, Sumidi, told The Jakarta Post recently.
He said the administration had developed a production center in North Seram, Central Maluku, which is the only one in the region and run by the Javanese, who came with the transmigration program years ago. Now, there are 5,389 hectares of rice fields and 113,420 hectares of dry paddy fields, locally called "lahan padi gogo".
An agricultural trainer at the Maluku Plantation Office, Ngadimin, said poorly organized irrigation systems had a bad impact on rice production.
"Even though the local administration built two irrigation dams in 2002, only one is functional," he added.
He said construction of the dams was not prepared well. The officials decided on the dams' locations based on a survey they had conducted during the wet season.
In fact, the dams hold little water during the dry season, he said.
"Farmers in North Seram can not optimize their rice crops because they can only plant when water is available. The lack of water influences rice production."
He added only six of the 18 villages in the transmigration areas could produce rice maximally because they had good irrigation systems.
"Meanwhile, other farmers can plant rice only in the rainy season, when water is available."
Farmers also face other problems, such as a lack of quality seeds. The regency and provincial administrations once provided seeds from other regions but recently stopped the program because the seeds sent often sprouted before being planted.
"The areas, where we are living, are far from other districts and regencies – and the road is damaged. For this reason, the farmers opted to use local seeds, the quality of which is not so good," said Ngadimin, who also lives in the transmigration area.
Although the farmers experience difficulty in cultivating paddy, they are still able to sell their harvests to Papua. They are also able to meet the five percent standard of rice water content.
Ngadimin said the farmers needed more rice hulling machines to help them cope with the harvests.
There is only one machine to cover 25 to 60 hectares of rice fields; ideally one machine should cover 10 hectares.
Nowadays, the farmers also have to deal with middlemen, who buy their harvest directly in the rice fields at a price of Rp 2,800 to Rp 3,000 per kilogram. The middlemen then sell the rice at market at a price of Rp 4,000 to Rp 6,000.
The farmers can not avoid this situation because the state-run logistics company has no office that can buy their products at a better price.
"They have no other choice except to sell their products to middlemen in order to meet their daily needs. I hope the administration will pay serious attention to this problem and provide a solution," Ngadimin said.