Soybean output should rise: Minister

Soybean output should rise: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah
asked private investors yesterday to help increase national
soybean production to cut back imports which reached 600,000 tons
last year.

Sjarifudin told a press conference that Indonesia would need
an additional 300,000 hectares of soybean plantations -- with a
productivity of two tons per hectare -- to offset imports.

Last year, domestic demand for soybean was 2.3 million tons
but production was only 1.7 million tons, with a productivity of
1.1 tons per hectare.

For the 1996/1997 planting period, the area of soybean
plantations dropped by 27.08 percent to 294,159 hectares, from
403,380 hectares in the 1995/1996 period.

Sjarifudin said that as an initial step, private corporations
were expected to help open up 10,000 hectares of soybean
plantations.

This was seen as a progressive step to reduce imports of this
commodity, he said.

"President Soeharto has ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to
support the private sector in the development of soybean
plantations," Sjarifudin said.

He acknowledged that land for new large plantations was hardly
available in Java.

"In addition, 10,000 hectares cannot be comprehensively done
in one area, but it is possible to accomplished in several areas
each with a size of 100 hectares," he said.

Sjarifudin said the government would assist private companies
by providing information on proper cultivation areas, weather,
appropriate seeds with primary varieties, government
authorization as well as training and technological know-how for
workers.

When asked about loans for soybean farmers and subsidies for
fertilizers, the minister said those issues were not under his
authority.

Sjarifudin also said soybean cultivation in Indonesia
encountered many obstacles.

The main obstacle in raising soybean production at present was
that there were too few soybean high-yielding varieties
available. Most of the existing soybean seeds were of low quality
with slow harvesting tenure and low productivity, he said.

According to Director General of Food Crops and Horticulture
Amrin Kahar, another problem was Indonesia's tropical climate
which was inappropriate for cultivating soybean. Subtropical
areas were more appropriate for soybean, he said.

Sjarifudin said soybean was also subject to many plant
diseases which resulted in high costs for pesticide and
insecticide.

When farmers were asked to plant soybean, they had difficulty
in selling their produce due to the poor structure of the
domestic market and the lack of assistance from the government.

Furthermore, many soybean plantations are developed in soil
with a low level of acidity. Hence, their productivity is very
low -- 1.1 tons per hectare as compared to the normal
productivity of two tons per hectare. (10)