Island's rice stock sufficient despite small drop in production

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Fri, 11/21/2008 11:27 AM  |  Bali

It is estimated that rice stocks in Bali will be sufficient enough to meet the needs of the Balinese people, despite calculations that the total production capacity of ground dry rice grains this year will slightly decrease by 0.76 percent, from the total harvest of 839,775 tons last year, a report by the Bali Central Statistic Agency says. 

The agency report, released Tuesday, predicts that the total harvest capacity of ground dry rice will reach 833,384 tons by the end of this year. This would make a total of 477,251 tons of ready-to-cook rice for the Balinese, after non edibles such as parent stock, scattered harvest and livestock feed were subtracted. 

With annual rice consumption estimated to be 406,731 tons, there will still be a surplus of 70,520 tons of rice, enough for two months.

"We have to remember, though, that the calculation of consumption needs only includes Bali's residents. We did not include the rice consumption of hotels and restaurants," I Gede Suarta, head of the production statistic division at the agency said.

Ida Komang Wisnu, head of the agency, said the amount of imported and exported rice in Bali was excluded in the agency's calculations.

The report also stated that the amount of scattered rice would be an estimated 51,647 tons and the amount used in religious rituals would be almost 11,000 tons.

The agency suggested that the city administration minimize losses from scattered rice to increase the amount available for human consumption and decrease the need for rice imports.

In the first four months of this year, the amount of ground dry rice grains produced actually increased by 14.2 percent, to 306,370 tons, when compared with the same period last year. This was due to a larger harvest last December.

Production, however, declined to 256,002 tons in the May-August period, down 2.4 percent from the same period last year. Limited rainfall was to blame.

Production in the September-December will decline by an estimated 293,949 tons, down 12.9 percent from the same period last year. The harvest area may decrease by 9.7 percent and the productivity may go down by 3.5 percent.

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