At least 29,048 hectares of paddies in 17 districts in Central Java have been under flood waters since late December 2007 causing farmers to suffer enormous losses, ANTARA quoted a provincial legislator as saying. At a recent working meeting between a commission of the Central Java Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) and a few regional government agencies including the agricultural and food crop services, it was established that as per January 2, 2008 some 288.29 hectares of paddy fields in the province will fail to yield due to floods, Sarwono, a DPRD member representing the Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP), said here Monday. The figure would increase if the floods had not subsided by Monday (Jan 7), he said. The inundated rice fields were located in the districts of Pati, Kudus, Jepara, Blora, Pekalongan, Tegal, Pemalang, Cilacap, Banyumas, Purbalingga, Demak, Grobogan, Klaten, Sukoharjo, Karanganyar, Sragen, and Wonogiri. Other food crops that were also flooded were maize (870 ha), soybean (428 ha), peanut (52 ha), chilli (8 ha), vegetables (5 ha). The recent landslide disaster in Karanganyar had also damaged 1.6 hectares of paddy fields.
