Annual rice harvest increases in Banten

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 04/07/2007 2:59 PM  |  Jakarta

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Banten

As one of 17 rice producers in the country, Banten province has managed to improve its production from the targeted 1.75 million tons to 1.88 million tons over the past year.

Deputy Governor HM Masduki said the surplus of 130,000 tons had ensured rice was available to the 9.2 million people living in the province.

""Banten's rice needs total about 930 tons per year,"" Masduki said Thursday in a meeting with all agriculture agencies in the province, held in Tangerang municipality.

The meeting was aimed at coordinating efforts in rice production improvement.

Masduki said that in a bid to secure the national supply of rice, it was hoped that Banten could meet its new target of 1.9 million tons of unhusked rice this year.

""Agriculture agencies play important roles in reaching the target. It is their job to teach farmers about surviving bad growing seasons and unpredictable weather.""

Despite the surplus, many farmers in the province have complained of harvest failure due to the long dry season last year.

Masduki also warned the heads of regencies and municipalities not to allow productive farmland to be sacrificed for commercial or residential purposes.

""Moreover, the regional heads should also encourage farmers and residents to take part in the family planning program, because the increase in rice production should not be followed by a population increase,"" he added.

Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim, who hosted the meeting, said that despite the rapid pace of development in the municipality, his administration would maintain at least 1,000 hectares of land for rice farming.

He said the municipality could only produce 4,000 tons of rice each year, while the estimated rice demand -- from consumption pattern and the city's population of 1.4 million people -- was 46,000 tons per year.

""We have to import rice from other regions,"" he said, adding that more than 2,000 hectares of rice fields in the municipality had been reclaimed for the construction of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Some 4,000 hectares of the municipality's productive land has also been taken up by housing complexes, public facilities, office compounds, markets and shopping malls, he added.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.