Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Some 1,481 villages in East Nusa Tenggara (NTB) are at risk of running short of food following months of inclement weather have caused harvests to fail in the province.

Head of the East Nusa Tenggara food security agency Niko Nuhan said in Kupang on Wednesday that the 1,481 villages were situated in 20 regencies and cities. Nuhan said the harvest failures had been caused by a combination of droughts, pests and flooding.

"Food production dropped substantially, resulting in food scarcities. The condition was worsened by the extreme changes in weather that has seen rain come randomly," Nuhan said.

He said rice, corn, peanut and tube crops covering an area of 94,395 hectares had been ruined. Of the total number of villages that have suffered food scarcities, he said, 746 were considered to be severely affected, adding that those villages comprised 189,088 families.

The provincial administration has taken a number of measures to solve the problem, including taking rice from stockpiles in other regencies in the province. "The regional government has also proposed to seek help from the Coordinating Public Welfare minister, and that proposal has been approved," he added.