Indonesia prepares rural flood defences to protect crops
Indonesia is bolstering its rural flood defences to help farmers protect crops from monsoon waters and the La Nina weather pattern, its agriculture minister said on Wednesday, reports Reuters. La Nina is a cooling of the tropical waters of the Pacific that is a counterpart to the El Nino weather event that is characterised by warmer waters.
Indonesia is repairing irrigation systems and installing water pumps in areas likely to be worst hit, such as East Java, Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman told reporters, adding that rice planting was also being accelerated.