Rice imports no shame

Rice imports no shame

All the fuss about Indonesia importing rice has made people ask whether we are now short of food. Is Indonesia no longer self-sufficient in the production of rice?

The Ministry of Agriculture however reports there is no need for Indonesia to import rice this year because dried unhusked rice production last year totaled 48.4 million tons. This is a 3.8 percent increase over 1994 when production totaled only 46.6 million tons.

The 51.1 million ton target for this year will probably be achieved because the area to be harvested during the January- April period will total 6 million hectares, which is more than half the total for 1995/1996 which was 11.3 million hectares.

We do not want to join in this clamor. All we want to say that if Indonesia has to import large quantities of rice, that is only be natural because man still has no control over nature. Disasters, droughts or floods can happen at any time in our major rice growing areas. This might cause Indonesia to lose its self- sufficiency in any given year.

If Indonesia is no longer self-sufficient, that too would be natural. Indonesia's population is constantly growing and has perhaps already reached the 200 million mark. It might reach 210 million by 2000.

We must be prepared to accept that one day our domestic rice production may no longer be enough and we may have to import the balance because of the sheer size of our population.

-- Kompas, Jakarta