Rice output to increase this year
Rice output to increase this year
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's rice production, which fell four percent in 1994, is expected to expand some this year, but remain lower than 1993's level.
"According to the latest projection of the Central Bureau of Statistics, this year's rice production is likely to grow by 1.5 percent from last year's level," State Minister for National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita told reporters after a meeting with President Soeharto at the Bina Graha office yesterday.
Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah and Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar also attended yesterday's meeting.
The announcement indicates that this year's rice production will not offset last year's output decline, which was caused mainly by a severe drought.
Indonesia's rice production decreased by four percent last year to 46.40 million tons of unhusked rice from 1993. The drought forced the country to import a significant amount of rice for the first time in years.
Indonesia achieved rice self-sufficiency in 1984 after being the world's largest rice importer for decades.
Ginandjar's statement shows that the government has abandoned its previous, much more ambitious projection of increasing rice production by six percent this year from last year's level.
Minister Sjarifudin said yesterday that the previous projection took into account the four percent decline in last year's rice production, as well as maintaining the expectation of a minimum annual increase of 2.1 percent.
"The government aims to increase rice production by an average of 2.1 percent annually in the coming five years. This target has taken into account factors like population growth, changes in incomes and rice consumption," the minister said.
Weather
Previous news reports said that recent floods have threatened almost 30,000 hectares of food crops in Java and Sumatra. And the National Space and Aviation Agency predicted recently that the country is likely to experience a major drought later this year.
Minister Radinal confirmed yesterday that 26,000 hectares of rice fields have been damaged by the floods.
Sjarifudin also revealed that there has also been a 2.5 month delay in this year's harvest.
Ginandjar assured, however, that Indonesia's rice self- sufficiency is still safe despite the now modest projection for this year's rice production.
"We are still maintaining self-sufficiency because the amount of per capita rice production is still higher than the per capita consumption. This year we aim to produce 160 kilograms of rice per capita, more than enough to meet the per capita consumption of 132 kilograms," he said.
Sjarifudin added that in absolute figures Indonesia will produce around 46 million tons of rice this year.
The chairman of the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) said earlier this week that the agency currently holds around 800,000 tons of rice stocks.
Emergency measures
Ginandjar also announced yesterday that the government plans to take "emergency measures" soon to boost rice production in order to meet any increases in demand.
"The budget for the measures will fall somewhere between Rp 150 billion (US$68.18 million) and Rp 200 billion. It will come from funds already allocated in the current budget," said the minister, who also heads the National Development Planning Board.
Sjarifudin said the government plans to repair and upgrade the country's village irrigation systems, to intensify rice production, and to create new rice fields.
"In the first stage, we aim to fix around 150,000 hectares -- out of the 1.3 million hectares -- of village irrigation systems in the country. We also have set a target to create around 90,000 hectares of new rice fields this fiscal year," he said. (hdj)