Indonesia straddles the equator like a string of pearls 3,000 miles long. The country gets more thunder storms than any other, but in general, its 2 seasons (wet & dry) can be predicted fairly well. Things are changing and the local farmers are among those affected. Sumatra and west Java get more rain than Bali, they are also subject to floods, which have become more frequent. Farmers complain the beginning of the seasons is harder to calculate and they have lost crops before after severe rain. Farming in Indonesia has changed in the last 50 years with the introduction of exotic forms of rice that produce more as well as the use of pesticides and fertilizers.
Farmers spray DDT on the rice to keep the insects off. You will often drive over a bridge in Bali and observe a river with a milky color. That’s the chemicals draining from the rice fields. Rice stalks that used to be ploughed back into the fields are now burned, freeing massive amounts of carbon dioxide.
Local farmers live close to the land and are often existing on a very low budget. Ideas such as
global warming and climate change are considered international topics. The effects of climate change on crops is getting some of their attention, but as the BBC reports, its unlikely farmers will change their ways.
