RI needs 3.1m tons of rice

RI needs 3.1m tons of rice

TOKYO (DPA): Indonesia will need to import 3.1 million tons of rice within the next 12 months because of damage caused to its rice crop, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report released Tuesday.

The report, based on a survey in March, said the rice harvest in Indonesia in 1999 is expected to be good because there has been plenty of rain, but because of an extended period of drought since 1997, the rice-planting areas will be reduced somewhat.

As a result, total rice output is expected to decline 0.39 per cent to 48.66 million tons, roughly 3.10 million tons short of the 52 million tons projected by the government.

Although the import amount is about half that of fiscal 1998 ended last March 31, when the rice harvest suffered a series of blows because of El Nio and other weather hazards, so far, only about 1.3 million tons of imports have been ensured through rice aid programs, the FAO said.

The FAO urged the international community to provide additional rice aid to Indonesia to ensure the poor will not be deprived of food.