Government aims to focus on food security: Prakosa<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Agriculture Muhammad Prakosa said on
\nMonday his programs for the year 2000 would concentrate on food
\nsecurity and agribusiness development.<\/p>\n
\"We will further encourage rice cultivation to regain food
\nself-sufficiency,\" he told House Commission III for agriculture.<\/p>\n
He said that Indonesia's per capita rice consumption averaged
\n135 kilograms.<\/p>\n
With a population of 207 million, Indonesia achieved food
\nself-sufficiency in 1985, but became dependent on imports from
\nthe late 1980s.<\/p>\n
According to the National Logistics Agency, Indonesia imported
\n5.7 million metric tons of rice last year and 1.7 million tons in
\nthe first nine months of this year.<\/p>\n
\"The food security program will also include diversification
\nof staple foods into such crops as corn and various tuber plants
\nto prevent too heavy a dependency on rice,\" said Prakosa, who
\ntook up the agriculture portfolio late last month.<\/p>\n
He estimated that domestic production combined with imported
\nstocks would be sufficient to meet consumption needs until the
\nend of the first quarter of next year.<\/p>\n
Prakosa said unhusked rice production next year was expected
\nto reach 51 million tons, a 2.26 percent increase from this
\nyear's output.<\/p>\n
He set a corn production target for next year at 10.5 million
\ntons and soybean at 1.5 million tons.<\/p>\n
He said 22 million families, or 58 percent of the total
\npopulation, depended on the agricultural sector for their
\nlivelihood.<\/p>\n
The agribusiness program would focus on smallholders through
\nan integrated approach encompassing production and marketing, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"We will still provide subsidies for seeds for rice and
\nsecondary food crops, fertilizer and farm credit.\"<\/p>\n
Referring to foreign assistance, Prakosa said foreign aid
\ndisbursement to the agricultural sector from April to September
\nthis year totaled US$10.35 million or 13.49 percent of the
\nbudgeted total of $76.72 million.<\/p>\n
He blamed the slow foreign project implementation on
\ninadequate counterpart funding, technical difficulties and
\nbureaucratic hurdles.<\/p>\n
Prakosa said his ministry would require a development budget
\nof Rp 1.66 trillion (US$237 million) in the next fiscal year
\nwhich will only last for nine months starting in April. He said
\nthe contracted year was because the government would base its
\nbudget on the calendar year beginning in January, 2001.<\/p>\n
He said Rp 967.4 billion of the development fund was projected
\nto be raised from foreign aid. (06)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-aims-to-focus-on-food-security-prakosa-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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