Indonesia braces for forest fires, crop loss from severe dry season

FILE PHOTO: A farmer clears weeds from his crop in a rice paddy field near Subang, Indonesia's West Java province, May 27, 2014. Asia's governments are scrambling to head off the potential impact of a weather phenomenon that in the past has driven food prices to levels that sparked social unrest. They are aiming to reduce the impact of the so-called El Nino, a weather pattern that can bring drought to Australia, Southeast Asia and India. REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia is expecting a severe dry season from the impact of the El Nino weather pattern, threatening harvests and raising the risks of forest fires, the head of its weather agency said on Tuesday.

"Looking at the data we have, El Nino started in June and will affect almost all of Indonesia and worsen until September," said Dwikorita Karnawati, head of the BMKG, Indonesia's meteorological, climatological and geophysics agency.