RI has no ambition of becoming a rice exporter

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday Indonesia had no intention of becoming a rice exporter and all efforts to increase productivity were aimed solely at maintaining self- sufficiency.

Soeharto was speaking to farmers in Karang Agung Ulu district, South Sumatra, after opening the region's rice harvesting season. The rice in this district is grown on tidal peat soil.

Responding to a farmer's question Soeharto said Indonesians should not worry that the government was aiming to increase rice production for export markets.

He said Indonesia has had to import rice in order to maintain price stability on the domestic market and secure adequate supplies in case of natural disasters.

"We will not be a rice exporter because if we do become one, we may crush the markets of other rice exporting countries," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Soeharto told the farmers about his recent visit to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Rice exports is the main foreign currency earner in those countries.

Soeharto was accompanied by State Secretary Moerdiono, Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah, Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo, South Sumatra Governor Ramli Hassan Basri and Musi Banyuasin Regent Nazom Nurhawi.

Soeharto said peat soil was one of Indonesia's many natural resources that could be used to grow food crops.

Critics had doubted whether peat soil was appropriate for growing food crops like rice.

"But there has been no evidence supporting their skepticism," he said. Soeharto introduced two types of rice, Banyuasin and Lalan, suitable for tidal peat soil. Both had a productivity rate of about 8.3 tons a hectare.

Soeharto said transmigrant farmers should not be reluctant to work on peat soil because it could produce favorable results.

Each transmigrant family gets two hectares of land as their new home, of which 0.25 hectares is used for housing and gardening.

Soeharto said the rapid loss of agricultural land in Java to housing, industry and roads, made it necessary to use tidal peat soil for food crop cultivation.

He said the remaining agricultural areas which had not been converted in Java should be developed through intensification activities which did not require more land to increase productivity.

Soeharto symbolically presented transmigrants in the area with 33,200 land certificates and 1,100 cows.

South Sumatra has received the most transmigrants of any province and about 21 percent of the province's 6.3 million people are transmigrants.

The province achieved food self-sufficiency in 1986 and is a major contributor to Sumatra's food supply. Last year South Sumatra produced 1.5 million tons of rice, of which 353,000 tons were harvested from tidal rice fields.

Apart from meeting the farmers, the President also opened the new Sriwidjaya University campus in Palembang.

The Rp 162 billion (US$70.43 million), 712-hectare campus, situated 34 kilometers from Palembang, was funded from the national and regional budgets. (pwn)