Bulog to boost stocks amid fear of fall in rice output

Bulog to boost stocks amid fear of fall in rice output

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) will boost its rice buffer
stock next year amid fears that the country's rice output could
drop as farmers have delayed planting crops this year due to the
prolonged drought.

Bulog chairman Widjanarko Puspoyo said the agency would take
1.5 million tons of rice into storage during the first months of
next year, compared to the normal figure of 1.2 million tons.

"We will add 300,000 tons to our rice stock to stabilize the
price of the commodity on the local market," Widjanarko said
after meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission III
for agriculture and forestry on Wednesday.

It has been feared that the price of rice could increase in
the first months of next year due to lack of supplies caused by
late planting by farmers.

"We will use our stocks to keep the rice price below Rp 3,000
(33 US cents) per kilogram," Widjanarko said.

Farmers normally plant rice in October and harvest their crops
in December during the final harvest of the year.

However, the months-long drought has forced farmers to delay
planting. But, planting could commence soon following reports
that rain has been falling in many parts of the country.

The rainy season has reportedly started in several rice
producing areas, such as in Sumatra and Kalimantan. In Java, the
country's main producing area, the rains started this month.

If farmers plant their crops in December, harvest time will be
in March.

Experts have said the delay in planting could cause serious
difficulties for tens of millions of the country's poor farmers
next year. They have also warned that March was not a good time
for farmers to harvest their crops as it was usually rainy. Heavy
rain can either ruin the harvests or lower the quality of yields.

Some weeks ago, before rain started falling in various parts
of the country, the United States' National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOOA) said that the drought would
continue for several months in several parts of Indonesia. This,
the agency said, would force Indonesia to import more rice.

Rice is a staple for Indonesia's more than 200 million people.

Despite the drought, the Ministry of Agriculture was
optimistic that the country could meet its unhusked rice output
target of 52 million tons this year.

Fifty-two million tons of unhusked rice is equal to 30 million
tons of rice.

Data from Bulog shows that the agency has signed contracts
with Thailand, Vietnam, China and the United States to import
some 1.7 million tons of rice this year, more than last year's
figure of 1.5 million tons.

Widjanarko told the House that as of October, the agency had
imported some 819,000 tons of rice.

"We hope another 217,500 million tons will arrive here in
November and December," he said, adding that the remaining
contracted shipments were expected to arrive next year.

Aside from the agency, private companies also import rice for
the domestic market, but no data is available about their
imports.

Indonesia achieved self-sufficiency in rice in 1984, for which
then president Soeharto received an award from the United
Nations' Food Agriculture Organization.

However, since then rice production has declined and Indonesia
had to import almost five million tons of rice in 1999 amid the
economic crisis.