Prices of three fertilizers increased 12.5 percent

JAKARTA (JP): The government increased sale prices of three commonly used fertilizers yesterday by an average of 12.5 percent to cut back on subsidies, but said the move would not eat into farmers' income.

Minister of Agriculture Justika Sjarifudin Baharsjah announced the increase in urea fertilizer prices to Rp 450 (6 U.S. cents) from Rp 400 per kilogram, ZA fertilizer to Rp 506.25 from Rp 450 per kg and superphospate-36 (SP-36) to Rp 675 from Rp 600 per kg, Justika said.

She said the rise in the prices, effective as of yesterday, would not deplete farmers' income because the government had earlier increased the floor price of unhusked rice.

"In real terms, farmers can still enjoy a 19 percent increase in their income," she told the media after installing directors of PT Pertani, a state fertilizer, seeds and pesticides distributor.

Early this month, the government increased the floor price of unhusked rice by 17 percent, to Rp 700 per kilogram from Rp 600, following increasing prices in the market.

"We often overlook these facts, and we often conclude that farmers' incomes would drop after an increase in fertilizer prices," she said, adding that fertilizers represented only 8.9 percent of all rice farming costs.

The country, proud of its rice self-sufficiency during the 1980s up to early 1990s, is currently importing rice to offset falling domestic output.

Following a prolonged dry season last year, the government is set to import at least three million tons of rice this year.

Justika said her ministry would develop 30,000 hectares of coastal rice fields in South Sumatra using a new type of herbicide, herbicide polaris, to boost production of the food staple.

"More than 8.5 tons of unhusked rice has been harvested from the coastal rice fields through using herbicide polaris. I reported this matter to President Soeharto this morning," she said.

She said this year's harvesting started in March and would peak May, a delay by about two months due to the delay in planting seasons, caused by the prolonged dry season last year.

The ministry estimated earlier this year that Indonesia's unhusked rice production would only reach 45 million tons, down from last year's output of 51 million tons.

Justika said the country's rice harvest had reached around nine million tons, or 20 percent of this year's target.

Rice is the main dietary staple for almost 90 percent of the country's 201 million people.

The ministry estimates per capita rice consumption this year at 131 kg, or 26 million tons for the entire population. (gis)