Rice production to drop, drought delays harvest

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's unhusked rice production this year is expected to reach 45 million tons, only 84.3 percent of its initial target of 53.25 million tons.

Sjarifudin Karama, secretary general of the ministry of agriculture, said the lower rice production was due to the severe drought in several provinces.

He said the prolonged dry season, which affected most of the country's provinces until the end of last year, had delayed the planting season by two months.

"The delay in rice planting will adversely affect rice production in 1998. This year production will be about 45 million tons of unhusked rice."

He said the rainy season, which should have started in October, had not reached provinces in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

The country's rice planting areas, which covered 6.24 million hectares in the 1997/1998 planting season, were expected to decrease 43 percent to 4.36 million hectares in 1998/1999 due to the drought, he said.

Rice planting areas last year covered only 86.12 percent of the initial target of 7.25 million hectares.

Indonesia's rice output reached 49.13 million tons of unhusked rice last year, a drop of 3.85 percent from its figure of 51.10 million tons in 1996.

Sjarifudin said harvesting usually started in February and peaked in April, but this year it would likely start in March due to the delay in planting.

He said the government had been trying to boost the country's rice production to surpass its target by implementing intensive- planting programs in several productive areas.

Rice growing areas in Indonesia harvest between one and three times a year, depending on the type of rice, climate and irrigation system.

Most provinces usually begin rice planting around October -- the start of the rainy season -- and begin harvesting in February. Due to the prolonged dry season last year, many farmers began their rice planting in December.

Sjarifudin said the Japanese government had agreed to distribute a grant in the form of 500,000 tons of unhusked rice to help the country overcome its food shortage problems. (gis)