2002 rice import seen at 1.3 million tons<\/p>\n
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia would only need to import about 1.3 million tons of
\nrice this year despite the threat of the drought-inducing El Nino
\nweather phenomenon, a senior official at the Agriculture Ministry
\nsaid on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"Even with El Nino, the country's total rice importation will
\nnot surpass ... 1.3 million tons,\" Kaman Nainggolan director for
\nplanning and finance at the ministry told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He made the statement in response to a forecast made by the
\nUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that Indonesia
\nwould import some 2.5 million tons of rice in 2002, making the
\ncountry the world's largest rice importer. The Kompas daily
\nnewspaper, which quoted the figure, did not explain the reason
\nbehind the surge in importing rice.<\/p>\n
\"We welcome the USDA forecast as a worthy input, but frankly
\nspeaking, I believe such a figure is too high,\" said Kaman.<\/p>\n
He said the ministry was optimistic that this year's unhusked
\nrice production target of 53 million tons would be achieved.<\/p>\n
The figure is equal to around 33 million tons of milled rice
\nor roughly the same as the national rice consumption level
\nannually.<\/p>\n
Kaman said that a Rp 40 billion (about US$4 million) 100-
\nhectare paddy field project financed by the ministry was expected
\nto be harvested in August, lending more credibility to the 2002
\nrice output target.<\/p>\n
He also said that there was a strong chance that the El Nino
\nweather phenomenon would not occur this year as indicated by the
\nstate meteorological agency (BMG).<\/p>\n
He said that without El Nino, the country would only need to
\nimport around 500,000 tons of rice.<\/p>\n
Analysts have expressed worries that the country would have to
\nimport a huge amount of rice due to the likely return of El Nino.<\/p>\n
The weather pattern, which occurs once every two years to
\nseven years, last hit Indonesia during 1997, when it caused
\nsevere drought and serious damage to agricultural production.<\/p>\n
In 1997, said Kaman, Indonesia was forced to import more than
\n5 million tons of rice due to the combination of El Nino and the
\ninfluence of the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
But he said that the condition now was very different with the
\neconomy already moving toward recovery.<\/p>\n
Rice is the staple food of many Indonesians. Missing the
\nproduction target will force the country to import rice to meet
\ndomestic demand.<\/p>\n
Chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), Widjanarko
\nPuspoyo, said earlier that it would import more than 1 million
\ntons of rice this year to anticipate a possible drop in domestic
\noutput due to poor harvests and El Nino.<\/p>\n
Widjanarko said the country's rice production had been
\nsteadily declining since 1998 due to the shrinking total crop
\narea.<\/p>\n
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) showed that
\nthe country's rice imports reached 6 million tons in 1998. This
\nfigure fell to 4 million tons in 1999, 1.5 million tons in 2000,
\nand 1.5 million tons last year.<\/p>\n
The effect of the recent floods and El Nino are predicted to
\ncut back unhusked rice production by between 5 percent and 10
\npercent.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/2002-rice-import-seen-at-13-million-tons-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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