Indonesia has ordered the military to help farmers plant rice as severe drought has reduced output of the staple in South-east Asia’s most populous country, lifting prices, requiring increased imports and threatening food security.
With planting behind schedule due to dryness fuelled by the El Nino weather phenomenon, President Joko Widodo asked military supervisory officers in villages known as Babinsa to help take advantage of recent rains. Global rice supplies have tightened this year as the El Nino, which typically causes hotter and drier weather in South-east Asia, reduced output in major producing and consuming countries.
