REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The price of rice, especially premium rice, is currently increasing. Data from the Food Price Panel by the National Food Agency showed that, as of Friday (1/3/2024), the price of premium rice touched Rp 16,510 per kilogram, and medium rice Rp 14,350 per kilogram. And climate change is named as one of the culprits of this problem.

Professor of Meteorology and Climatology from BRIN, Prof. Edvin Aldrian, revealed that climate change and El Nino are severely affecting food availability in Indonesia. He explained that climate change that triggered global warming, plus the emergence of El Nino in mid-2023 saw many farmers fail to harvest, so rice prices are now crawling up.

“Throughout 2023, the global average temperature will approach 1.5 degrees Celsius. That's a record. In the middle of 2023, there will also be an El Nino, which will make temperatures in Indonesia even hotter and drier. Both of these things greatly affect the availability of food in Indonesia,” Prof. Edvin said in a webinar on food sustainability amid the climate crisis on Tuesday (5/3/2024).

To achieve food self-sufficiency in the midst of climate challenges, Prof. Edvin stressed the importance of anticipating and predicting the occurrence of El Nino or La Nina. Through earlier anticipation, the country can save unnecessary costs and the supply of rice can also be secure.

“The ability to predict El Nino and La Nina is very important because it could help us in dealing with food security,” Prof Edvin said.

How do you anticipate an El Nino? Prof Edvin explained that Indonesia's vast oceans could be key in predicting El Nino and La Nina. Such predictions can be made through the use of software with ocean modeling, and hardware by installing buoy to observe changes in temperature, currents, as well as ocean pressure.

For the Indonesian region, observations can be made at the entrance to the Indonesian Lintas Arus (Arlindo), namely in the sea area overlooking the Pacific Ocean, especially in the deep sea of Eastern Indonesia. According to Prof. Edvin, the sea in Eastern Indonesia is a deep sea and continues to be influenced by Arlindo, while to the west is a shallow sea that is more often affected by seasonal nature than Arlindo.

“Indonesian marine data on the canal or the main entrance of Arlindo can be used as a precursor to the arrival of El Nino up to 5 months earlier with a high degree of confidence. So I think it's important to apply El Nino and La Nina prediction capabilities in the midst of climate challenges like now,” he said.

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