Jakarta – Indonesia's President Joko Widodo plans to speed up the installation of water pumps across the country to protect food crops from the impact of extreme weather.
Mr Widodo urged the government to get 20,000 water pumps in place and use water more efficiently to safeguard the country's food security in the face of climate change.
"Don't play around with heatwaves, as this could lead to inflation," he said in a meeting to discuss inflation on June 14. "Once stockpiles are gone, production will decrease, market prices will rise."
The water pump installations should focus on areas that produce rice, a staple in the country of more than 270 million people.
Mr Widodo is also racing to build the 61 reservoirs and dams that he promised to complete during his term, with about 43 inaugurated so far.
South-east Asian nations have suffered under heatwaves recently, with temperatures soaring to records.
A town in the Philippines saw the mercury reach 53 deg C in April, while cities from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur issued heat warnings in 2024.
Soaring heat and drought have been felt from India, which held the world's largest election in temperatures that rose above 40 deg C, to the coffee plantations of Vietnam.