Bekasi/Cianjur/Jakarta. Across parts of Indonesia, this year's dry season is already taking a heavy toll. In villages on Java, residents are walking long distances for clean water while farmers are spending more to keep rice fields alive.

Residents of Sukasari village in Bekasi Regency, on the eastern outskirts of Jakarta, have been forced to walk up to one kilometer each day after household wells ran dry much earlier than usual.

For 39-year-old resident Samilah, the situation is the worst she has experienced in years.

"Usually, our wells only dry up after four or five months without rain. This year, it happened after just over one month," she said.

Without running water, her family relies on relatives living about a kilometer away or purchases water delivered by truck. One tank costs around Rp100,000 ($6), enough to last only three days for cooking, drinking, washing, and other household needs.

Authorities have begun distributing emergency supplies, but residents are calling for more frequent deliveries as the dry season continues.

According to village officials, at least 150 households in Babakan have been affected. Across Bekasi Regency, drought has expanded to 49 locations in 10 villages spanning five districts, affecting 5,776 households that now require clean water assistance.

The village previously endured severe drought in 2022 and 2023 before conditions improved over the following two years. Officials are now proposing to expand piped water services and are seeking corporate social responsibility (CSR) support to improve long-term water access.

The drought is also beginning to affect agricultural land.

About 120 kilometers southeast, farmers in Ciranjang district, Cianjur Regency, are struggling to keep rice fields irrigated using electric and diesel-powered pumps.

Although water is still available from irrigation canals and government-built wells, pumping it has become increasingly expensive.

A Rp100,000 electricity or diesel refill powers irrigation pumps for only about five hours, according to Idan Didan, head of the Sukamulya Farmers Group.

"The soil has become extremely hard because of the prolonged dry weather, so much more water is needed to soak the fields," he said.

Of the group's 20 hectares of rice fields, around five hectares have already suffered total crop failure, while yields on the remaining land are expected to decline because of insufficient water.

Farmers are urging the government to subsidize electricity or fuel costs for irrigation pumps to reduce their financial burden.

Food Security Holds as Government Intensifies Drought Mitigation
As of July 10, around 30,379 hectares of rice fields nationwide had been affected by drought, with 12,207 hectares suffering complete crop failure, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Most of the damaged area is concentrated in South Sulawesi, although several other provinces have also reported losses.

Despite forecasts that this year's dry season could coincide with El Niño conditions, the government says it expects crop failures to remain contained through a combination of prevention, adaptation and mitigation measures.

Those include distributing more than 57,000 water pumps, rehabilitating irrigation networks with a Rp16.4 trillion ($912 million) budget this year, promoting drought-resistant rice varieties, expanding agricultural insurance, and strengthening an early warning system.

Meanwhile, the National Food Agency said national food supplies remain secure despite weather-related risks.

Based on the government's 2026 food balance projection, Indonesia is expected to maintain surpluses in key commodities including rice, corn, sugar, chilies, eggs, onions, and chicken meat, while garlic, soybeans, and beef will continue to rely partly on imports.

The agency projects rice production will exceed domestic demand by about 3.7 million tons this year, leaving year-end stockpiles at more than 16 million tons.

However, weather conditions are expected to remain unfavorable in the near term.

The  Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forecasts that more than three-quarters of the country will experience low rainfall during the latter part of July, with dry conditions expected across much of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and parts of Papua.

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