Indonesia's Clean Irrigation Initiative Expands to Support Food Security

Indonesia's Public Works Ministry has launched a nationwide Clean Irrigation Movement, mobilising river‑basin organisations to improve irrigation infrastructure, secure raw water quality and reduce flood risk. Director General of Water Resources Arnold Aristoteles Paplapna Ritiauw said the effort backs President Prabowo Subianto’s food self‑sufficiency agenda and includes rapid drought‑mitigation measures and the rehabilitation of tertiary irrigation systems serving rice fields.

In Bengkulu Tengah, a farmers’ group in the village of Durian Demang asked the government to extend the Lubuk Serigo irrigation channel by about 450 metres, with an additional 50 metres at the far end still unfinished. Group leader Ahmad Yani explained that completing the channel would allow farmers to plant three times a year, improving yields and pest control. The head of Bengkulu Tengah’s Agriculture Office, Helmi Yuliandri, confirmed the request had been forwarded to the regional river‑basin authority.

Provincial officials in Banten, including Budi Santoso, welcomed the ministry’s work, noting that thousands of hectares of farmland depend on reliable irrigation. The coordinated actions aim to prevent water shortages that could jeopardise the nation’s food‑security targets.