Production of unhusked rice up only 4% this year<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Unhusked rice production this year is estimated
\nto increase only 4 percent to about 52 million tons, Minister of
\nAgriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters at a year's end meeting, the minister
\npointed out that the lower than expected increase was due to
\nseveral problems which the agriculture ministry could not solve
\nwithout the cooperation of other government institutions.<\/p>\n
He cited the problem of fertilizer distribution, which remains
\na heated issue in the agricultural sector. A number of farmers in
\nTrenggalek, East Java, burned a cooperative in the town yesterday
\nbecause there was no fertilizer for sale.<\/p>\n
Similar incidents have occurred in other provinces. Many
\nfarmers have decried the scarcity of the fertilizer supply and
\nblamed it on the village cooperatives.<\/p>\n
Rice production was also affected by the decrease in harvested
\nacreage because many rice fields, particularly in Java, have been
\nconverted into settlement and industrial sites.<\/p>\n
The total area of rice fields in the country dropped from 16.7
\nmillion hectares in 1983 to 15.9 million hectares in 1993.<\/p>\n
He said this year had the potential for increased rice
\nproduction. \"The climate has been very friendly to agriculture.
\nThere was no disease and we managed to launch higher yielding
\nvarieties.\"<\/p>\n
The minister had expected an increase of 6 percent in rice
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
\"Due to this year's reality, we will have to work very hard
\nnext year to compensate for the shortage,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Next year's rice production is expected to increase at least 5
\npercent. The agriculture ministry will pursue the target through
\na number of programs that include breakthroughs in agricultural
\ntechnology and opening new rice fields outside of Java.<\/p>\n
The government plans to convert one million hectares of peat
\nin Central Kalimantan into agricultural land. About two thirds of
\nthe area will be developed as rice fields and the rest for other
\ncrops.<\/p>\n
The project will cost US$5 million per hectare.<\/p>\n
The government also plans to launch special programs to
\nincrease the production of corn, which is needed for animal and
\npoultry feed.<\/p>\n
Plantation<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the agriculture minister said the
\ngovernment will soon -- probably early next year -- start the
\nsecond nucleus estate and smallholder (NES) plantation program in
\nthe eastern part of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"The NES plantations, which will cover an area of 500,000 ha,
\nwill be linked with transmigration activities as was the case
\nwith the first program,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The second NES plantation project -- the first was carried out
\nin the 1970s and 1980s in the western part of the country -- will
\nbe implemented in Irian Jaya, Southeast and Central Sulawesi,
\nCentral Kalimantan and Maluku.<\/p>\n
\"Besides, we'll also improve the efficiency of the state-owned
\nplantation companies (PTP),\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
He added that the Ministry of Agriculture will soon
\nrestructure the 26 PTPs into 14 PTPs.<\/p>\n
In the next stage of development the ministry will select
\nseveral PTPs considered qualified to sell their shares on the
\nstock exchanges.<\/p>\n
There has been concern over the efficiency of the state-owned
\nplantation companies recently. Director General of Plantations
\nMuhammad Badrum has warned that inefficiency will render the
\nstate plantation commodities uncompetitive on the international
\nand domestic markets. (13)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/production-of-unhusked-rice-up-only-4-this-year-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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