Drought not to cause shortage of rice due to adequate supply

Drought not to cause shortage of rice due to adequate supply

JAKARTA (JP): This year's long dry season is unlikely to cause
a food shortage because the 800,000 tons of rice borrowed by
foreign countries guarantees an adequate domestic supply, an
official said.

The secretary of the State Ministry of Food/Chairman of the
Logistic Board, Sapuan, told reporters in Bali over the weekend
that the borrowing countries are scheduled to return 500,000 tons
of the rice borrowed this fiscal year.

They include the Philippines, Cuba and Vietnam.

"The return of the 500,000 tons to Indonesia is based on the
schedule, not because we asked them to return the rice due to the
drought," Sapuan said as quoted by Antara.

Indonesia started to lend its rice surplus in 1985 when the
domestic market was oversupplied and has lent a total of two
million tons of rice, of which 1.2 million tons have been
returned. The rice borrowed by other countries, therefore, now
stands at 800,000 tons.

The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency reported last Friday
that the widespread drought threatens vast food crops across
Indonesia. Some parts of Java, Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara,
East Timor, South Sumatra and the western part of South and
Central Sulawesi have been worst hit by the drought.

In Central Java alone, around 16,400 hectares of rice fields
have perished and around 82,000 tons of rice has been lost due to
the current drought.

Sapuan explained that the returned rice will be distributed to
crisis areas, such as Irian Jaya and provinces in Sulawesi and
Kalimantan.

He also said there is nothing to worry about because the
drought could be handled by increasing productivity in irrigated
areas.

"All we have to do is plant rice on those irrigated areas and
develop secondary crops in areas depending on rainfalls," Sapuan
said.

Meanwhile, Governor of Bali Ida Bagus Oka said that, at the
moment, his province has an adequate stock of rice. (yns)