The Cianjur district government in West Java province is preparing a scheme to help farmers affected by the recent 5.6-magnitude earthquake in the area to make a profession switch.

“We are currently collecting data to seek for damaged rice fields. We will consult with the Directorate General of Agricultural Infrastructure and Facilities on whether it is still possible or not to continue to use it (the fields),” head of the food crops division at the Cianjur District Agriculture Service, Dandan Hendayana, informed here on Wednesday.

If the rice fields are located in the red zone of the earthquake or have the potential to endanger safety, then a livelihood relocation scheme from farming to the services or trade sector has been prepared for farmers.

Hendayana outlined another scheme for quake-affected farmers: rice field normalization.

“We also have a rice field recovery scheme through the terracing approach. We will re-optimize buried land for this program,” he informed.

He said that until now, the Cianjur district government, together with the local Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), is still collecting data on material losses to farmers from the quake.

“We are still collecting data to estimate how much the losses are and coordinating with related parties to process compensation,” he added.

The current population of farmers in Cianjur, based on data recorded from 3,700 farmer groups, is 237 thousand.

Based on the results of data collection in the field, as of November 29, 2022, the acreage of rice fields affected by the quake in Cianjur district has been recorded at 317 hectares out of a total of 66,934 hectares.

The damaged rice fields have been divided into three categories: heavily damaged (79 hectares), moderately damaged (88 hectares), and lightly damaged (150 hectares).

“The general overview shows that not all rice fields in the sub-district have been affected. Those most affected are in the Cugenang, Cianjur, Karangtengah, and Cilaku sub-districts,” he disclosed.

The quake has also damaged a 175-meter irrigation canal, 4 drainage ditches, and an agricultural counseling building in Mande, Cianjur, and Cugenang sub-districts.

On November 21, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Cianjur district, West Java, at 1:21 p.m. local time. It was centered 10 kilometers (km) southwest of the district at a depth of 10 km and did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.

Source: Antara News