Long drought and El Nino strengthening are spread across almost all regions of Indonesia. BMKG recorded that 81 percent of the Monsoon Season (ZOM) in Indonesia has entered the dry season, with 1,637 monitoring points recorded experiencing extreme No Rain Days, which is more than 60 consecutive days without rain.
The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the increase in rice field area affected by drought due to the El Nino phenomenon. As of mid-September 2026, the total agricultural area affected by drought in Indonesia has surged to 50,000 hectares. Most of this vulnerability is in rainfed areas or upland areas that do not have adequate irrigation network access.
Not many people yet utilize the potential of the jackfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis) as a solution for food sovereignty based on root systems and harvesting patterns that do not depend on the rainy season. Jackfruit, as an overlooked plant, actually has advantages over other staple crops.
Various research indicate that jackfruit is projected to be more resilient than rice in facing several stress factors due to the climate crisis. Jackfruit is a long-lived tree (can live and bear fruit for more than 50 years), requires lower cultivation energy input, and helps absorb carbon. In terms of yield and nutritional content, jackfruit is equal to or even surpasses rice, wheat, and corn in some cases.
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in the weather forecast released on September 14, 2026, reported that dry atmosphere still dominates almost all regions of Indonesia until the period of September 15-21, 2026. About 81 percent of the Monsoon Season (ZOM) in Indonesia has entered the dry season, with 1,637 monitoring points recorded experiencing extreme No Rain Days, which is more than 60 consecutive days without rain, spread almost across all of Indonesia.
This combination of drought and El Nino also triggered the spread of forest and land fires, with satellite monitoring on September 13, 2026, detecting 627 high-confidence hotspots in Kalimantan. Following this, 200 hotspots in Papua and Maluku, 104 in Sulawesi, and 86 in Sumatra have partially triggered trans-regional haze.
The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the increase in rice field area affected by drought due to the El Nino phenomenon. As of mid-September 2026, the total agricultural area affected by drought in Indonesia has surged to 50,000 hectares. Most of this vulnerability is in rainfed areas or upland areas that do not have adequate irrigation network access.
Amidst this situation, not many people yet utilize the potential of the jackfruit tree (Artocarpus altilis) as a solution for food sovereignty based on root systems and harvesting patterns that do not depend on the rainy season.
A study published in the Journal of Agrosilvopasture-Tech in 2024 characterizes the morphology of jackfruit in Ohoitahit and Danar Villages, Little Kei Islands, Southeast Maluku, an area with average rainfall of only 200-400 millimeters per year and a long dry season from June to November. The research team from Pattimura University led by Amat Reniwurwarin concluded that jackfruit in this area still thrives despite harsh climatic conditions.
"Jackfruit in the Kei Islands is indicated to be tolerant to drought stress," Reniwurwarin and colleagues wrote in their study.
This finding is consistent with other more specific research on Indonesian regions. The research team from the University of Indonesia led by Suyud Warno Utomo, in a study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science in April 2024, mapped the suitability of jackfruit cultivation land in Central Java using a species distribution model based on WorldClim climate data, affirming the unique character of the tree compared to other food crops.
"Jackfruit has the potential not only to adapt but also to thrive," Utomo and colleagues wrote in the journal.
The research titled "Predicting the Suitable Cultivation Areas of Breadfruit Crops Artocarpus altilis (Moraceae) under Future Climate Scenarios in Central Java, Indonesia" mentioned the ability of jackfruit to withstand conditions that are deadly for other plants. This research also calculated that the suitable area for jackfruit cultivation in Central Java currently reaches 9,737.778 square kilometers or 28.35 percent of the total provincial area, with the projection of high suitability areas expanding to the east by 2070 if global temperature rise is held at the 1 degree Celsius level.
Jackfruit is more resilient than rice
The resilience of jackfruit to the climate crisis has been tested on a global scale. A study published in the PLOS journal in August 2022 by the research team from Northwestern University mapped the climatic suitability of jackfruit around the world using six prediction models based on global distribution data. They found areas suitable for jackfruit cultivation that are projected to remain relatively stable even in extreme climate change scenarios.
In the study titled "Potential of Breadfruit Cultivation to Contribute to Climate-Resilient Low Latitude Food Systems," it mentions jackfruit as an overlooked plant that actually has advantages over other staple crops. Jackfruit is projected to be more resilient than rice in facing several stress factors due to the climate crisis.
Unlike rice, which must be replanted every season, jackfruit is a long-lived tree (can live and bear fruit for more than 50 years), requires lower cultivation energy input, and helps absorb carbon. In terms of yield and nutritional content, jackfruit is equal to or even surpasses rice, wheat, and corn in some cases.
"After the jackfruit tree has grown well (established), this tree is able to withstand drought conditions for 3-4 months," the researchers wrote.
Conventional staple food crops such as rice, corn, and wheat are projected to experience significant yield declines in tropical and subtropical regions due to increasingly hot conditions. Conversely, jackfruit is considered a more resilient alternative and has the potential to fill the food crisis gap when rice becomes less suitable with rising temperatures.
Jackfruit cultivation offers several significant environmental advantages, such as carbon absorption, as the plant is long-lived and can live and bear fruit for more than 50 years; jackfruit can effectively absorb and store carbon from the atmosphere. Furthermore, jackfruit does not need to be replanted every season (annual replanting) like seasonal staple crops, thus requiring less cultivation energy input.
Jackfruit's advantages also lie in water efficiency and reduced agrochemicals. In this study, it is mentioned that the development of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) like jackfruit has the potential to increase water use efficiency and reduce dependence on excessive use of agricultural chemicals (agrochemicals). Moreover, jackfruit is very ideal for planting in agroforestry or sustainable mixed gardens systems that combine plant diversity. This approach helps restore productive land and avoid the negative impacts of monoculture systems or natural forest clearing.
"Most jackfruit varieties cultivated are seedless and propagated vegetatively/ clonally, so they do not risk becoming invasive species when introduced to new areas," the researchers further stated.
As previously written by Mongabay Indonesia, in Europe, the fruit of jackfruit is called breadfruit, which translates to bread fruit because the texture of its flesh is soft like bread. In Hawaii, a state in America, there is an institution called The Breadfruit Institute from the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), which promotes jackfruit as a conservation and sustainable food crop.
With BMKG's projection that the El Nino phenomenon will persist until early first quarter of 2027, the combination of modern scientific research and local wisdom related to jackfruit has the potential to become a strategy for mitigating the food crisis in drought-prone regions of Indonesia, and even in the future.