KUALA LUMPUR: El Nino, a naturally occurring climate pattern, is back after seven years, with experts warning that it may bring extreme weather from droughts to floods and record-breaking temperatures. Already, the current erratic weather conditions marked by heavy rain and strong winds since early this month, have taken a toll on padi fields in Tanjung Karang, Sekinchan and Sabak Bernam, Selangor, at the onset of the padi harvest season, causing angst for farmers.
“We don’t know what will happen within the next one to two months. Before this, we were faced with a hot spell from August to September, which left us without enough water to irrigate our crops in the growing season; and now we have to brace for heavy rain and thunderstorms. “Due to the low yields, the harvesting machinery could not extract our padi to the full as some was stuck in the ground,” farmer Fairuz Zzaini Mohd Toif, 36, told Bernama. The current scenario saw rice millers lowering the selling price from RM1,700 a tonne to around RM1,200 and RM1,250 causing a heavy burden on farmers who are already saddled with rising costs of fertiliser, pesticides and workers’ wages.
The young farmer, who has been growing padi on his 12ha family-owned plot of land over the past 11 years, did not expect the downpours to occur daily, as the phenomenon usually starts during the North-East Monsoon, that is, at the end of the year. Nearly 1ha of his crops was destroyed by the phenomenon, with estimated income losses of over six metric tonnes worth RM8,000 and these did not include plantation costs.
Fairuz Zzaini and several other farmers, when met by Bernama, expressed concerns over the impact of the El Nino on weather conditions around the globe, with the phenomenon expected to increase year-end until January and February next year, causing the weather to be drier than usual.
Earlier, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET Malaysia) said the El Nino phenomenon is expected to become more extreme than previous episodes, with an increase in temperature and a reduction in the amount of rainfall nationwide this year due to global warming. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more intense in many places around the world because of climate change. It has hit the harvest yields of several padi fields in Asia.
In July, India announced a ban on exporting non-basmati white rice to help lower rice prices and secure availability in India. The ban sent shockwaves through the global market, leading to a scramble for supplies and heightening concerns over food security. India, one of the world’s largest producers of rice, exported more than 40% or 22 million tonnes of non-basmati white rice last year to 140 nations including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and several other countries in the African continent. Malaysia currently produces 63% of rice for local consumption, with the balance imported from India, Thailand Vietnam.
However, domestic rice production risks the threats of the El Nino and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) early next year, with the negative phase expected to reduce the total rainfall, hence causing weather conditions to be drier and this would affect states which have changed their planting season, that is in March and April, says meteorological expert at the National Antarctic Research Centre (NARC) Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah.
In the Peninsula, the padi growing season usually takes place from September to October, while harvesting season is held from December to March. For off-season crops, planting takes place from March to April and harvesting starts from June to August.
The situation is different in Sabah and Sarawak which practise one-season cultivation, with planting in Sarawak starting from October to November and harvesting from March to April. Sabah starts planting padi from June to August and harvesting in December to February.
“As such, when water from the dam is released for the first season (normal season), you’ve got to wait for the North-East Monsoon to refill the dam so that there is enough water for the second rice cultivation (off season) starting from March to April. “The reservoir needs to be monitored because if less rainfall is experienced in November and December due to El Nino and IOD factors, then water stored in the reservoir is also reduced,” he said.
According to Azizan, the key issue faced by farmers during the extreme hot weather which is expected to take place early next year is to ensure water from the dam is enough to meet the needs during the planting season as water is highly in demand during the period. If no mitigation measures are undertaken, the extreme high temperature will put pressure on padi cultivation, and hence affecting the yields.
“The rice fields need enough water to slow down grass growth during the padi cultivation season. In our country, 60% of padi is under the irrigation system and only 20% relies on rain while another 10% is used for ‘padi huma’ or dryland padi (padi on dry areas whether on highland or lowland and depends purely on rainfall).
“In my view, the issue is not related to farmers but the management of water dams as a lot of water needs to be released. Water from dams should be released in a prudent manner so that it can be stored for use in the next season,” he said.
The issue should not be taken lightly as it is could pose threats to the national food security. At the same time, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia are also likely to experience unusually low rainfall and droughts this year due to the El Nino weather pattern. “These countries will reduce rice exports and at the same time, others like Indonesia and India may face a shortfall in rice production and will increase their rice imports. “Both factors could raise prices of rice and hence, causing a further strain on the global rice security issue that we are currently facing,” he said.
Local white rice (BPT) is fast running out due to poor demand for imported rice (BPI) among consumers following the latter’s price hike of up to 36%. It is said that the domestic white rice supply shortage is attributed to low padi production in the country, which is insufficient to meet domestic demand.
This time, the North-East Moonsoon, which is expected to start next month up to March next year, will however result in lower rainfall distribution compared to previous years, said Ambun Dindang, the senior director of the Meteorological Instrumentation And Atmospheric Science Centre at the Malaysian Meteorological Department. Several areas such as northern Sarawak and other states in Peninsular Malaysia are expected to experience less rain for the period February to March 2024. Sabah is the only state that will be affected by the El Nino with below average rainfall distribution.
The sudden climate change is among the reasons for the slight drop in the nation’s self sufficiency level (SSL) for rice to 63% per cent in 2022 from 65% in 2021, said Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security (ITAFoS) director Prof Dr Mohd Rafii Yusop from Universiti Putra Malaysia. In terms of local rice needs, he said the nation can achieve an average 250,000 tonnes a month or about three million tonnes a year, and in the event of a significant shortfall in padi production due to various factors, this could trigger a crisis in this staple food.
“Many studies conducted have shown that climate change…
Credit: The Star : News Feed
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