Indonesians eat less rice: Minister<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Food Ibrahim Hasan has
\ndismissed concerns about the drought's impact on the national
\nrice supply, citing huge government stocks and the fact that
\nIndonesians are eating less rice than they used to.<\/p>\n
\"There has been a massive transformation in rice consumption
\nin Indonesia that it (the drought) doesn't really bother me as
\nthe man most responsible for Indonesia's food supply,\" Ibrahim
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Other government officials have also allayed public concerns
\nabout the country's rice supply with the likelihood of a
\nprolonged drought. They said the 3.2 million tons of rice stored
\nin government warehouses were sufficient to meet domestic needs
\nfor the next 10 to 12 months.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim said the country's per capita rice consumption, which
\nat one time reached between 150 and 180 kilograms a year, had
\ndeclined to 130 kilograms.<\/p>\n
This means Indonesia needs between 28 million and 30 million
\ntons of rice a year, he said, noting that national production had
\nonce reached 36 million tons.<\/p>\n
The minister, attending a seminar on tempeh in Denpasar, said
\nMonday that the changing eating habits of Indonesians had
\nresulted from growing prosperity, with annual per capita incomes
\nincreasing 12 fold from US$100 to $1,200 in the last 25 years.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesians were increasingly replacing a carbohydrate
\ndiet with fruit, meat and fish.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim said Indonesia had enjoyed two years of good harvests
\nwhich were helping prop up the government's rice stocks.<\/p>\n
\"Although the drought is affecting many rice fields in
\nIndonesia, we have enough food stock without having to resort to
\nimports,\" he said.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra is said to be the hardest hit by the drought
\nwith 14,054 hectares of rice fields reportedly affected.<\/p>\n
But the province's food depot chief administrator, Col. Moch.
\nSantoso, said there were not yet any signs of food shortage and
\nprices remained stable, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
He said a meeting at the Food Logistics Agency in Jakarta last
\nweek had discussed ways to overcome possible food shortages in
\ncertain regions.<\/p>\n
In West Java, drought had affected 12,420 hectares of rice
\nfields, Antara said.<\/p>\n
But the acting chief of West Java's Office for Food Plants,
\nAli Maskoen, said that none of the province's farmers had
\ndeclared their harvests a total failure.<\/p>\n
He warned that more rice fields could be affected if there was
\nno rain by the end of the month and that some rice fields might
\nbe declared a total failure.<\/p>\n
The government had already set up a command post to deal with
\ncrises emerging from the drought, he added.<\/p>\n
To overcome the drought, farmers have introduced alternate
\nirrigation for their paddies and others have been backed up by
\nwater pumps.<\/p>\n
In South Sulawesi, local officials said the province would
\nremain one of the major \"rice bowl\" areas in eastern Indonesia
\nalthough drought had already affected thousands of hectares of
\npaddies. (09\/emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesians-eat-less-rice-minister-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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