Unhusked rice output fell 3.62 percent last year<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's unhusked rice output dropped 3.62
\npercent to 49.25 million tons last year, down from 51.1 million
\ntons in 1996, due to prolonged drought and forest fires, the
\nCentral Bureau of Statistics announced yesterday.<\/p>\n
Many reservoirs ran dry during last year's drought, hindering
\nthe supply of water to many rice producing regions and leading to
\nreduced yields and crop failure. Forest fires also hindered
\nproduction, the bureau said in a statement sent to The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
The drought affected the whole country, while the worst forest
\nfires were confined to Kalimantan and Sumatra. Both catastrophes
\nwere blamed on the El Nio weather pattern.<\/p>\n
The bureau said 91.41 percent of last year's rice harvest came
\nfrom irrigated fields, with the remainder coming from rain-fed
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
Of the total harvest, 56.56 percent came from Java, against
\n55.6 percent in 1996, the bureau said.<\/p>\n
Last year, the area in Indonesia under rice cultivation
\ndropped by 4.3 percent, to 11.07 million hectares, down from
\n11.57 million hectares in 1996. On Java, the area under rice
\ncultivation dropped by 2.12 percent, to 5.37 million hectares. On
\nother islands, the area of land devoted to rice production fell
\nby 6.28 percent, to 5.69 million hectares, the bureau said.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, the area under irrigated rice cultivation dropped
\n4.12 percent to 9.83 million hectares. The area under rain-fed
\nrice cultivation dropped 5.71 percent to 1.24 million hectares.<\/p>\n
In Java, the total area of irrigated rice fields dropped 2.26
\npercent to 5.12 million hectares last year, while in other
\nislands the area devoted to irrigated rice fields decreased 5.98
\npercent to 4.81 million hectares.<\/p>\n
Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah has stated that
\nthe country's rice production is expected to rise by 7.5 percent
\nin 1998, amid expectations of weather conducive to cultivating
\nrice.<\/p>\n
Indonesia currently imports rice from Thailand, India, China,
\nVietnam and Pakistan to make up for shortages in domestic
\nproduction. (jsk)<\/p>",
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