Govt warned not to hastily introduce 'super rice'

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government must first conduct a thorough test before introducing the new high-yielding "super rice" to local farmers, an independent agriculture expert said.

Bayu Krisnamurthi, director of the Center for Development Studies at the Bogor Agriculture University (IPB), said on Friday that both laboratory and field tests were needed to make sure that the use of the genetically modified rice would not cause any serious harm to the environment.

He added, that the government must also be aware that applying the hybrid rice would make this country dependent on China because Indonesia did not have the necessary technology in producing the seeds.

The high-yielding "super rice" is now being grown on 50,000- hectares of farmland in China.

"The government must do a series of tests first, not only in the laboratory but also in the paddy fields to make sure the "super rice" is really suitable with the conditions in Indonesia," Bayu told The Jakarta Post.

He has just returned from China where he attended the International Rice Congress.

China is the first country to start applying the "super rice". Some said that farmers in several major rice-producing countries in Asia would start growing the hybrid rice in two to three years to feed rising populations.

Gurdev Khush, a consultant at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), who has extensive work in developing high- yielding rice strains, said that the "super rice" would make up 20 percent of the total rice area in several countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and India.

Almost all of the people in Asia, or 60 percent of the world's population, rely on rice as a staple.

Khush said that Indonesia might be next in line to start applying the "super rice", which can yield 13 tons of rice per hectare, compared to the average 6.2 tons per hectare from ordinary strains.

"But the government must check first whether it can really produce rice at 13 tons per hectare," Bayu said.

"Another important issue is that we don't have the high technology needed to produce the seeds. This means that we will likely have to rely on China (for the seeds)."

Rice is a strategic commodity in this country because it is the staple foodstuff of the 210 million population.

Experts have repeatedly called on the government to boost farmer's productivity by providing incentives including qualified seeds to help boost domestic rice output.

Indonesia managed to obtain self-sufficiency in rice 1984 but since then the production level has declined for a variety of reasons.

Indonesia's rice imports reached 6 million tons in 1998. This figure fell to 4 million tons in 1999, 1.5 million tons in 2000, and 1.5 million tons last year.

The government is targeting rice production this year at 52 million tons of unhusked rice, which is equal to about 30 million tons of rice.