Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Agriculture Ministry has allocated Rp336 billion (US$21.6 million) to accelerate the rehabilitation of flood-damaged rice fields in Sumatra, aiming to swiftly restore production and secure regional food supplies.The funding targets recovery in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, focusing on lightly to moderately damaged paddies so farmers can quickly resume planting, the ministry said on Sunday.The program follows a nationwide groundbreaking initiative launched on Jan. 15, 2026, and is part of the government’s broader drive to strengthen national food security, Director General of Agricultural Land and Irrigation Hermanto said.Rehabilitation is being accelerated despite forecasts by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency that rainfall from January to March will remain at moderate to high levels, which continues to challenge field operations.”Our priority is to quickly rehabilitate rice fields and repair damaged irrigation systems so they can be reused by farmers,” he said, adding that persistent rain has forced technical teams to adjust on-site strategies.Heavy rainfall in several districts has delayed sediment removal, prompting new field surveys to reassess damage and recalibrate costs, including sediment disposal and irrigation channel clearing.Rehabilitation measures vary by damage level, with lightly affected land handled through optimization programs, while moderate to severe damage is addressed through targeted rehabilitation focusing on land clearing and infrastructure repair.The ministry has allocated land optimization works covering 32,000 hectares, including land clearing, reshaping, irrigation repairs, soil processing, and land reuse, following directives from Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman.Another 9,900 hectares have been earmarked for specialized rehabilitation, involving sediment removal, land leveling, drainage construction, irrigation excavation, and improvements to farm-level infrastructure.The program is being implemented in three phases—technical planning, construction, and land preparation—with provincial governments finalizing technical designs in partnership with universities and revising budgets to reflect field conditions.Beyond physical construction, the initiative also strengthens governance, technical assistance, and monitoring, while involving local farmers and regional authorities to ensure interventions match on-the-ground needs.”This collaborative approach is expected to restore rice field productivity, expand planting areas, and improve farmer livelihoods, while ensuring timely, high-quality, and targeted rehabilitation,” Hermanto said.