Indonesia to replant rubber next year

Indonesia to replant rubber next year

Reuters, Jakarta

Indonesia, the world's second largest rubber producer after
Thailand, will rehabilitate 100,000 hectares of rubber
plantations a year for four years from 2002 to cut output and
lift prices, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Director General of Plantations Agus Pakpahan said on Monday
that the plan was Indonesia's way of fulfilling a pact made in
September with other top producers Thailand and Malaysia to each
reduce output by four percent next year.

It would also dovetail with Indonesia's efforts to add value
to its rubber industry, Pakpahan told reporters.

"Over the next four years we will rehabilitate 100,000
hectares per year...It's also because our rubber trees are
ageing," Pakpahan told reporters.

Pakpahan said financing of the rehabilitation program was
still being discussed. He did not elaborate.

While waiting for new trees from replanting to produce, the
government planned to build more rubber-based industries,
Pakpahan added.

"We are going to restructure our rubber industry, which
currently produces only latex and block rubber, so they can
process the rubber wood and make other rubber-based products,"
Pakpahan said.

Indonesia expects the rehabilitation efforts could help boost
productivity of its rubber trees from 600 kg per hectare to two
tons per hectare in the longer term, he said.

"We expect our rubber-based industries to have grown rapidly
by the time our productivity rises," he added.