Feed makers prefer imported corn

JAKARTA (JP): Feed producers prefer imported corn because of its good quality and the precise delivery time and not its lower price, an official said yesterday.

Secretary for the extension services of the ministry of agriculture, Syamsudin Abbas, dismissed earlier reports that poultry feed producers preferred imported corn because it was cheaper than domestic corn.

"The price of domestic corn is considerably lower than imported corn, even with all the additional costs of operation," Syamsudin said.

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows the current price of domestic corn sold by farmers is Rp 354 (14 US cents), slightly higher than the price of corn sold in the United States of 11.8 US cents.

Meanwhile, feed companies pay Rp 404 per kilogram of corn, which may be either imported or bought from the local farmers or the village cooperatives.

Newspapers reported earlier that feed producers in West Java no longer bought hybrid corn from domestic farmers because its price had continued to rise since April.

Indonesia imports about one million tons of corn annually, mainly hybrid corn to support domestic poultry food production. Corn makes up 50 percent of poultry food and soybeans make up 15 percent.

There are currently 59 feed companies in the country, with a total production of 4.29 million tons a year.

Syamsudin said the demands for corn from the poultry feed industry would increase to 3.94 million tons this year, up from 3.55 million tons in 1996.

The Ministry of Agriculture expects the country's corn production to rise to 9.32 million tons this year from 9.14 tons in 1996. The corn yields would come from a 3.65 hectare estate.

To increase corn production the government designed a partnership program of hybrid corn plantation which is expected to cover 1.2 million hectares by the end of the year.

The production of hybrid corn from the partnership program would amount to 3.18 million tons in the 1996/1997 planting season, Syamsudin said. (das)