Corn exports to increase sixfold on higher yields

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 04/11/2009 1:43 PM  |  Business

"Last year, we managed to export 150,000 tons of corn. This year, we're targeting exports to jump to up to 1 million tons," he said as quoted by Antara.

He added corn production had increased by 22 percent last year to 16.3 million tons, from around 13 million tons in 2006.

"This year, we're targeting corn production to increase by 14 percent to around 18 million tons," Sutarto said.

He also said the production jump was driven in part by an expansion in corn plantations as well as an increase in productivity, helped by the use of superior-quality seeds during planting season.

"Last year, we managed to meet 90 percent of local corn demand, making us a self-supporting corn producer," he said, adding that last year, Indonesia only imported 170,000 tons of corn.

Indonesia has long relied on corn imports from the United States and China.

The government has been intensively supporting local farmers by providing them with seed subsidies for rice, corn and soybeans to help cut import dependency under its food security policy.

This year, the government has allocated 4,266 tons of subsidized corn seeds for 225,534 hectares of corn farms.

Previously, the Agriculture Ministry's plantation protection director Herdradjat said the ministry was optimistic about raising income from agriculture produce exports to US$21.68 billion this year, from $18.85 billion last year.

He cited China, the Middle East and India as some of the new export markets.

Indonesia is home to plantations of some of the world's key commodities, including crude palm oil (CPO), rubber and cocoa.

But since the second half of 2008, as the global economic turmoil kicked in, commodities-rich countries like Indonesia have been hit hard by a drop in demand and prices. (fmb)

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