Indonesia to import 2m tons of corn this year<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will import about 2 million tons of
\ncorn this year to meet the surge in the demand from animal feed
\nindustries and food producers, according to the Indonesian
\nSeedling Association (Asbenindo).<\/p>\n
Andy Gumala, the head of the food plants department in the
\nassociation, said here on Friday that this year's import figure
\nrepresents a 66 percent increase from about 1.2 million tons of
\ncorn imported in 2000.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is still unable to fulfill all the domestic demand,
\nwhich is expected to increase to 12 million tons this year from
\n11 million tons in 2000 because farmers still prefer to grow
\ntraditional corn rather than the highly yielding hybrid corn, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"It's hard to boost local corn production because farmers
\nmostly still prefer to use non-hybrid corn seeds," he said after
\naddressing a seminar on the strengthening of private sector and
\nNon Government Organization (NGO) roles in raising food crop
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
According to the latest data from the Central Bureau of
\nStatistics, the corn plantation area did not increase in the year
\n2000, staying at the previous year's figure of 3.45 million
\nhectares, but well short of the 3.81 million hectares in 1998.<\/p>\n
Only one tenth of the total area devoted to corn cultivation
\nwas planted with hybrid seed.<\/p>\n
Although the hybrid corn could double the harvest, the highly
\nyielding corn is not yet popular amongst the country's farmers.<\/p>\n
Andy said the farmers were discouraged from using the hybrid
\nseed because the hybrid corn requires special processing
\nequipment, usually difficult to find in rural areas.<\/p>\n
He said that the government should give more low-interest
\ncredits to corn farmers in a bid to reduce corn imports. (05)<\/p>",
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