Rice imports may be cut by 50%

Rice imports may be cut by 50%

JAKARTA (JP): The country will be able to halve its huge rice
imports next fiscal year if rice production meets the target,
Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin has said.

"We can reduce our imports by 50 percent if our rice
(unhusked) production could reach 52 million tons next fiscal
year," he was quoted by Antara as saying in South Sumatra's
capital Palembang on Saturday.

The unhusked rice could be processed into 31 million metric
tons of milled rice. The country's rice consumption is expected
to reach 32 million tons next year.

This year, domestic consumption is predicted at 31 million
tons, while the country's unhusked rice production could only
reach slightly over 46 million tons (28 million tons of milled
rice) due to the poor harvests.

To make up for the shortage, the government plans to import as
much as 4.1 million tons for the fiscal year ending in March.

The Central Bureau of Statistics in its latest report
estimates that the country's unhusked rice production this year
will reach 46.44 million tons, slightly higher than its earlier
prediction of 46.29 million tons.

The figure is still 6 percent lower than the 49.38 million
tons last year.

The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) earlier predicted that the
country would have to import at least 3.42 million tons of rice
in 1999/2000 fiscal year, beginning on April next year.

The agency said the figure could be higher if domestic
supplies missed the target and the agency's domestic procurement
was below one million tons.

Soleh said the government had conducted special efforts to
increase the size of the rice cultivation areas in a bid to boost
production.

"We are trying our best to sharply increase the next year's
harvests."

He added that the ministry was also trying to increase the
production of soybean and corn to reduce the country's dependency
on imports. (gis)