Business eats up 38,000 ha of fertile land each year

Business eats up 38,000 ha of fertile land each year

JAKARTA (JP): The construction of new property and industrial facilities consumes 38,000 hectares of fertile land in Java every year, says an official survey.

"Most of the 38,000 hectares are generally productive, irrigated land...the high demand from property developers and the industrial sector has lured farmers to sell their land," states a recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The survey, which was quoted by Antara yesterday, also indicates that every year about 50,000 hectares of land, which is productive enough to grow rice, are converted for non- agricultural purposes throughout the country.

Rice is consumed by more than 90 percent of the 189 million people inhabiting Indonesia. The average population growth between 1993 to 1998 was projected by the government at about 1.6 percent per year.

Indonesia, which used to be the world's largest rice importer, became self-sufficient in 1984.

A drought last year slashed Indonesia's rice production by four percent from 1993's production of 48.1 million tons.

A local agricultural expert said that an additional 114,000 hectares of rice paddies are needed every year to maintain Indonesia's rice self-sufficiency into the next century. (hdj)