Rice production expected to drop slightly this year

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's rice production is expected to fall this year to 50.4 million tons from 50.6 million tons in 1996 because of the prolonged dry season, Antara said quoting a senior agricultural official.

But Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Syarifuddin Karama, ruled out any rice import saying the government had sufficient stocks to make up for any shortage.

The government had earlier targeted 52 million tons from this year's harvest.

Officials have said that Indonesia must raise its rice output by about 3 percent each year to feed its growing population which this year reached 200 million. In 1995, the country produced 49.74 million tons and in 1994 46.64 million tons.

This year's drought, said to be the worst in 50 years, was estimated to have caused the failure of 217,550 hectares of rice fields. The total affected area could increase to almost 300,000 hectares by the end of the year, Karama said.

The National Logistics Agency (Bulog) bought at least 1.9 million tons of rice this year, bringing its total rice stock to three million tons, enough to feed the entire nation until March, he said.

"We don't have to worry because Bulog promised not to import any rice," he said.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has said that rain will only begin falling in some parts of Indonesia in October and in November in other parts.

Rain is expected soon in Bengkalis, Riau, before spreading gradually across the western parts of Indonesia, including Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan, between next month and December.

Rain will come late for almost every region in Java, except those on the northern coast and will also arrive late in the rice-producing areas of South Sulawesi, the agency said.

The rainy season for most of Indonesia usually begins in October. (08)