JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com -  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government was preparing anticipatory steps in the face of possible El-Nino-triggered drought that could disturb food production and water supply to the people. "The government is obliged to carry out studies on the El-Nino waves and to take anticipatory steps in the face of possible El-Nino," the president said after holding a coordination meeting at his office here on Thursday.
     
He said the Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) had continued to carry out studies and observations to predict the potential threat of drought due the El-Nino which was predicted to impact the western and some eastern parts of Indonesia. "The BMKG chief has explained the possible arrival of El-Nino in the pacific region at the end of the year or early next year that could affect our agriculture," the head of state said.
     
Yudhoyono said that the same prediction was also made by the same institutions in the United States, Japan and Australia. He said that the influence of El-Nino in Indonesia in September 2009 was still weak but at the end of the year or early in 2010, its influence was yet to be known, but was to be studied by the BMKG.
     
"One thing for sure is that up to September the climate condition would still be in the save level in the sense that there would be no extreme drought, while after September, we are still waiting for the studies of BMKG in August," Yudhoyono said.
     
He said that the government remained to prepare anticipatory steps even if there would unlikely be extreme drought triggered by El-Nino until September. "Our first step is to increase our rice production. The second one is that if there is drought in a certain region we will accelerate the rice planting season, and the third step would be a step to develop a rice variety which is able to grow at an area with water scarcity," he said.