RI needs food security policy, experts say<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After years of increasing rice imports, Indonesia should now
\nthink of adopting a comprehensive policy so as to ensure food
\nsecurity and avoid a food crisis in the future, experts said on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
H.S. Dillon of the Center For Agricultural Policy Studies and
\nSiswono Yudhohusodo of The Indonesian Farmers Union (HKTI) said
\nseparately that the government must now embark on a concerted
\neffort to draft a policy for the attainment of self-sufficiency
\nin rice, the country's main staple food.<\/p>\n
The policy, Dillon said, had to include the availability of
\npaddy fields, fertilizer, good seeds, improved agricultural
\nmachinery, and reduced transportation costs.<\/p>\n
\"Without such a policy, we won't be able to achieve rice self-
\nsufficiency,\" Dillon said, adding that raising the import duty on
\nrice would not resolve the farmers' problems.<\/p>\n
Rice makes up a major part of the diet for most Indonesians,
\nwith Java being the main producer.<\/p>\n
Separately, Siswono said Indonesia could not afford the
\nconsequences of rice scarcity and, therefore, it should now move
\non to turn around the decline in domestic rice output and
\nincreasing rice imports.<\/p>\n
\"We can't just watch domestic rice production failing to meet
\ndemand every year, thus increasing imports. We must take positive
\nmeasures to stop this trend and achieve self-sufficiency in
\nrice,\" Siswono told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Indonesia achieved self-sufficiency in rice production in 1984
\nbut, since then, growth in rice output has been unable to meet
\nthe growth in rice demand due to a rising population.<\/p>\n
Analysts have said the failure to maintain self-sufficiency in
\nrice was due to, among other things, the massive conversion of
\nrice land to residential, development and industrial uses.<\/p>\n
Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that the
\ncountry's rice fields have shrunk to some 14 million hectares now
\nfrom 16.7 million hectares in 1983, a reduction of 15,000
\nhectares per annum.<\/p>\n
In addition, the reduction in the level of subsidies for
\nfertilizers and pesticides as well as the reduction in import
\nduty on rice have also contributed to the failure to maintain
\nself-sufficiency.<\/p>\n
Consequently, Indonesia has to import rice to meet the
\ncontinually increasing domestic demand.<\/p>\n
Rice imports have increased drastically from only 464,449 tons
\nin 1989 to 5.8 million tons in 1998, making Indonesia one of the
\nworld's largest rice importers.<\/p>\n
This year, a number of analysts have predicted that the
\ncountry will import some 2.5 million tons of rice. But some
\nofficials have downplayed the figure, saying rice imports should
\nstay at 1.3 million tons this year.<\/p>\n
One of the ways to increase domestic rice output would be
\nthrough the opening up of new rice fields, said Siswono.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he suggested that the government speed up its plan
\nto open 100,000 hectares of new paddy fields every year.<\/p>\n
\"The government must encourage oil-rich provinces such as
\nRiau, South Sumatra and East Kalimantan to earmark some of their
\nrevenues from oil and gas for the opening of new paddy fields,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Agriculture has proposed that the government
\nopen 100,000 hectares of new paddy fields per year to avoid rice
\nshortages by the end of the decade, but the plan has not been
\nendorsed by the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
The ministry has also proposed that the government raise the
\nimport duties on basic foodstuffs, including rice, to encourage
\nfarmers to plant more crops.<\/p>\n
Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih was quoted by Kompas
\nas saying that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had agreed to the
\nproposal.<\/p>\n
Bungaran contended that the measure was necessary because
\ndeveloped countries, such as the European nations and the U.S, as
\nwell as rice producing countries like Thailand and India, were
\nimposing higher import duties on rice than the duty imposed by
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
At present, the country's import duty on rice stood at 30
\npercent, or Rp 430 per kilogram.<\/p>",
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