Rice production expected to drop slightly this year

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)