Minister rejects plan to import rice<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After confirming with the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG)
\nthat there would be no drought in the second semester of this
\nyear, the Ministry of Agriculture has turned down a proposal by
\nstate-owned logistics company Perum Bulog to import rice.<\/p>\n
\"We (the ministry and the BMG) don't see any threat of a long
\ndrought as had been claimed earlier by Bulog. Therefore, we don't
\nsee any urgency for importing rice,\" Minister of Agriculture
\nAnton Apriyantono told a press briefing at the State Palace on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
Bulog President Director Widjanarko Puspoyo had said on Monday
\nthat farmers would not be able to supply the estimated rice
\nbuffer stock requirement of 2.25 million tons for this year due
\nto a possible drought between June and December. He added that
\nthe best-case scenario for the rice stock would be only two
\nmillion tons. Therefore, he had asked Vice President Jusuf Kalla
\nto approve Bulog's plan to import some 300,000 tons of the
\ncommodity.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe Bulog was referring to weather forecasts by foreign
\ncountries. The drought is unlikely to reach such an extreme level
\nas to affect our rice stocks,\" Anton said.<\/p>\n
If the government were to accede to Bulog's request, it would
\nmean revoking the country's rice import ban. This has been in
\nplace since early last year with the goal of protecting the price
\nof local rice.<\/p>\n
In addition, it is also aimed at preventing rice smuggling by
\nfirms working in cahoots with corrupt Bulog officials.<\/p>\n
Anton said that Indonesia would not face any problems with the
\nrice import ban in the immediate future.<\/p>\n
\"We are likely to remain self-sufficient in rice production
\nthis year, although the harvest is expected to be more or less
\nsimilar to last year's,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The country's unhusked rice production this year is estimated
\nto reach some 54.1 million tons, relatively flat compared to last
\nyear. Previously, Indonesia had been importing an average of
\n500,000 tons of rice per year. Rice is the principal staple
\nfoodstuff of the country's 220 million people.<\/p>\n
The estimated flat growth in rice production this year has
\nbeen attributed to a number of natural disasters around the
\ncountry, mostly involving floods.<\/p>\n
Anton said his ministry and the Ministry of Trade would review
\nthe import ban in June based on predictions and input from
\nvarious agencies with a view to seeing whether the ban should be
\nextended until December.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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