Govt needs Rp 2 trillion in rice drive

JAKARTA (JP): The government will need Rp 2 trillion (about US$142.85 million) in this year's rice planting season if it is to boost production of the country's favorite food, a minister said yesterday.

Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin said that Rp 2 trillion was needed to finance the rice intensification program, which includes provisions for expanding rice production and procuring fertilizers and farming equipment.

"We will try our best to boost the production of several food crops, especially rice, to avoid depending on imports. We will need an extra Rp 2 trillion to boost our rice production," he said after attending a hearing of House Commission III for agriculture and food affairs at the House of Representatives building.

Soleh acknowledged the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) had predicted that rice production would fall by 6.25 percent to around 46.29 million tons of unhusked rice this year. Production last year was 51.3 million tons.

Early this year, BPS predicted that rice production would fall by 3.61 percent to 49.25 million tons of unhusked rice.

The further decline in forecast rice production will oblige the country to import more rice.

The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) said earlier this month that it would import at least 3.1 million tons of rice because locally purchased rice would not be sufficient to meet domestic demand.

Soleh also reported that corn and soybean production was expected to drop this year.

He said corn production was expected to reach 9.4 million tons, or 97 percent of the target of 9.6 million tons, while soybean production was expected to reach 1.47 million tons, a mere 70 percent of the target of 2.09 million tons. (gis)