Indonesia Advises Residents to Change Sowing Dates Due to El Niño

Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency urged farmers in El Niño-hit areas on Tuesday to adjust planting patterns to reduce crop-failure risks from below-normal dry-season rainfall, ANTARA reported from Jakarta.

BMKG Head Teuku Faisal Fathani said areas south of the equator face greater risk from El Niño and need special attention, including East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, Java, southern Sumatra and southern Papua. "We must adjust the planting period. The planting period may need to be brought forward so that when the crops are nearing harvest, the dry season will not affect yields," he said.

BMKG also encouraged the use of crop varieties suited to drier conditions during the El Niño period. Fathani said the agency continues to assist agricultural agencies and farmers through its Climate Field School, or Sekolah Lapang Iklim, program to improve understanding of climate-adaptive farming practices, with agricultural extension workers also involved.

BMKG Deputy for Weather Modification Tri Handoko Seto said reduced rainfall caused by El Niño could affect reservoir water supplies for agriculture, raw water and hydroelectric power plants. Seto said the authority is conducting weather modification operations to increase water supply to several reservoirs, while BMKG said similar operations are being used to help prevent forest and land fires by maintaining humidity in peat areas.

El Niño began in June 2026, has entered a strong phase and could intensify further, but stressed that a strong El Niño does not mean Indonesia will be dry throughout the period. The agency forecasts low to very low rainfall from August to September 2026, raising drought risks in several regions, and expects the rainy season to begin in mid-October, gradually weakening El Niño’s influence on Indonesia’s rainfall patterns.