Drought has severely affected farmland around Yogyakarta, Central Java and Jambi province, Sumatra. Harvests will fail unless there is rain soon.

In Central Java, 14,527 hectares of rice farms are facing mild to severe levels of drought, Central Java Agricultural Agency's Agricultural Service and Infrastructure division head Nuswantoro Setyadi Pradono told The Jakarta Post in Semarang on Tuesday.

Around 3,000 hectares are completely dry.

"The drought will spread because the dry season is nearing its peak. Rain is not expected until October," said Nuswantoro.

The farms most threatened by harvest failure are located in rice production centers in Cilacap (1,340 ha), Rembang (480 ha), Banyumas (327 ha), Boyolali (275 ha), Blora (206 ha), Semarang (126 ha), Purbalingga (79 ha), Klaten (48 ha) and smaller affected areas in other regencies.

The provincial agricultural agency has urged farmers to optimize the use of irrigation in villages and among farm groups.

"We have improved local irrigation systems in the past two years and hope farmers will maximize irrigation to overcome water shortages during seasonal droughts," said Nuswantoro.

He expressed optimism that despite the potential extent of crop failure, Central Java's food self-reliance would not be effected. The province produces a surplus of 1.5 million tons of rice annually.

In Jambi, Sumatra, rice farms in villages in Marosebo district, Muarojambi regency, are dry as a result of recent drought.

Farmers can do little but hope for rain, since these farms are largely rain-fed and not backed by good irrigation systems.

Danau Kedap village chief Iskandar said villages in Marosebo district, such as Danau Kedap and Niaso, were located in a low plain area, mostly covered by peatland and swamps.

A long drought, during the past several months, has drastically reduced the level of river water.

"That's the natural condition of the area. If it rains a lot the farms are flooded, and on the other hand they dry up during long spells with no rain," he said, adding farmers should adjust their planting patterns to fit with seasonal changes.

Most of the residents' wells have also dried up.

A resident in Mendalo Darat village in Muarojambi, Sudirman, said he was at a loss because his well, the family's only source of potable water, had totally dried up, while the village did not have a tap water connection.

Currently, residents have to dig the wells deeper to get water. These shallow wells are usually located in low-lying areas that are quite far from their homes, such as swamps.

In Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, hundreds of wells, the main source of water for local people, have also dried up, while 2,360 hectares of rice farms in Bantul have dried up, risking crop failure.

To meet their daily needs, some 58,000 families, or around 200,000 people in Gunungkidul have to buy water, while farmers in Bantul are forced to use pumps to irrigate their farms.

"All 18 districts in Gunungkidul are facing a water shortage," regency spokesman Supriyanto told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said residents depended on wells for their water, but 90 percent of about 230 local wells had completely dried up, along with rainwater retention tanks, forcing local people to buy water. The price of water varies from Rp 70,000 (about US$7.70) to Rp 150,000 for a 5,000-liter tank.