THE rice prices continue to rise, but Tarsono’s dreams of profiting from it remain unfulfilled. The 39-year-old farmer from Nunuk village, Indramayu Regency, West Java, had run out of rice grains several months ago. His harvest had failed in the second planting season of 2023, in July-September, due to the drought caused by El-Niño. “There is no supply in the warehouse,” he said on February 21, 2024.

Today, with the