Crop production to fall this year

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's crop production for this year is expected to fall by between 1.34 percent and 5.61 percent this year due to the severe drought, a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.

Director General of Edible Plants and Horticulture Chairil Anwar Rasahan was quoted by Antara as saying that rice production this year was expected to reach 49.14 million tons, falling by 3.85 percent from last year's harvest of 51.10 million tons.

"This year's production will fail to surpass the initial target of 52.19 million tons," Chairil said at the House of Representatives Commission III hearing.

Chairil said that the forecasts were based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS).

According to BPS, corn production is estimated to drop by 1.34 percent to 9.18 million tons this year from 9.31 million tons last year, failing to surpass the initial 9.26 million ton target.

This year's soybean production is also predicted to fall by 3.82 percent to 1.46 million tons from 1.52 million tons in 1996. It is below the initial target of 2.03 million tons.

Peanut production is also expected to drop by 3.7 percent to 710,517 tons compared to last year's 737,815 tons.

The initial target for peanuts was 800,000 tons.

Mung beans production is expected to reach 284,521 tons, falling by 5.61 percent from 301,421 tons last year. Its initial target was 432,300 tons.

Cassava production is expected to drop by 4.8 percent to 16.19 million tons from 17 million tons last year. The initial target was 16.47 million tons.

BPS also predicted sweet potato production would drop by 3.88 percent to 1.94 million tons this year from 2.02 million tons last year, failing to surpass its initial 2.47 million ton target.

Chairil said the long dry season had resulted in decreased crop production. He said the ministry was trying to increase crop production by supplying prime seeds and promoting farm mechanization and integrated pest management. (gis)