1996 rice production may reach 51.16m tons

1996 rice production may reach 51.16m tons

JAKARTA (JP): The government is optimistic that Indonesia will
be able to achieve its target for this year's rice production of
51.16 million tons, a 2.6 percent increase over the 49.86 million
tons reached last year.

The Ministry of Agriculture's Director General for Food Crops
and Horticulture, Amrin Kahar, said yesterday that if the target
is achieved, it would be Indonesia's largest to date.

"Last year's production, which was estimated at 49.86 million
tons, is already the largest that we have ever had in Indonesia's
history," Amrin said during a break of a national meeting of
officials overseen by his office.

He said that based on estimates of the Central Bureau of
Statistics, the production of almost all food crops -- which
include maize, sweet potatoes, peanuts and soybeans -- and
horticultural products last year increased drastically over 1994
levels.

Maize production soared by 19.71 percent to 8.2 million tons
last year; soybeans by 7.49 percent to 1.6 million tons; peanuts
by 19.97 percent to 758.21 million tons; and sweet potatoes by
15.85 percent to 2.14 million tons.

Only cassava production dropped by 2.85 percent last year from
the previous year's 15.73 million tons.

"Our success in increasing production has cast away doubts on
our ability to increase food crop production, especially of rice,
maize and soybeans," he said. Indonesia currently imports the
three commodities on an incidental basis when domestic production
is unable to meet local demand.

Amrin estimated that last year's favorable results would make
it easier to achieve this year's targets.

This year's rice production target of 51.16 million tons, he
said, would be achieved through government efforts, which include
the development of intensive-farming methods and high-quality
gogo-type rice, the extension of farming areas in irrigated
regions and the opening of new rice fields in tidal areas and
peat land in Central Kalimantan.

In terms of harvested areas, almost all food crop commodities
recorded higher figures for the January to February period of
this year, compared to corresponding periods in 1995 and 1994.

The harvested areas for rice during the January to February
period was 66.49 percent higher than the 1.13 million hectares
recorded last year.

The only commodity whose harvested areas decreased was mung
beans, which dropped by 51 percent from the 66,500 hectares
recorded during the January to February period of 1995.

Planted areas for rice, maize, soybeans, cassava and sweet
potatoes during the 1995/96 planting season -- extending from
October 1995 to January 1996 -- were also higher than those
recorded in the corresponding periods in 1994/95 and 1993/94.

Amrin said yesterday the government's program for the current
(1996/97) fiscal year is to sustain the country's self-
sufficiency in rice and become self-sufficient in maize and
soybeans.

To achieve the target for this year, Amrin said, the Ministry
of Agriculture's Research and Development Agency has developed
high-quality rice varieties such as the Membramo and Cibodas
types -- which can increase harvests by up to 15 percent per
hectare -- and high-quality varieties designed for dry areas such
as the Gajah Mungkur, Kalimutu, Way Rarem and Jati Luhur rice
types.

The ministry also plans to apply hybrid rice varieties, which
can increase productivity by one to two tons per hectare.

Responding to questions from reporters, Amrin said the
government has no plans to develop or increase the production of
glutinous rice, because the demand remains too small and the
costs -- particularly for research and development -- are too
high.

The state-owned aircraft manufacturer, PT IPTN, recently
counter-traded two of its aircraft for 110,000 tons of Thai
glutinous rice.

The amount was expected to meet domestic demand for at least
1.5 years. Last year, Indonesia's imports for glutinous rice
reached about 80,000 tons.

Amrin said that it would be better if the funds for research
and development went to rice rather than to glutinous rice which,
in Indonesia, was highly prone to diseases.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he said, a plant disease which
originated from glutinous rice had spread to other rice
varieties, resulting in failed harvests. (pwn)