Bulog says RI rice self-sufficient by yearend

Slamet Susanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Yogyakarta   |  Wed, 06/24/2009 9:16 PM  |  National

Mustofa Abubakar, head of state-owned logistics company PT Bulog on Wednesday said the country's rice stocks would be enough to meet national demand until the end of the year.

“This month, we harvested 1.5 million tons and this is sufficient to meet the population’s needs,” Mustafa said during a discussion at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

This year, he added, Bulog had accumulated 3.8 million tons of rice, with a monthly consumption of 300,000 tons.

“Over the past two years we did not import rice. This policy enabled the government to save US$500 million (Rp 5 trillion) in 2008,” he said.

Mustafa said his office was planning to export rice in anticipation of a stock surplus and without reducing domestic stocks.

“We distributed raskin [rice for the poor] to 42 percent or around 7.5 million out of a total 18.5 million [poor] people [in Indonesia]. We will continue to distribute 15 kilograms of rice to each family [each month] until the end of the year,” he said.

Bulog should prioritize domestic demand rather than exporting rice to other countries, Gajah Mada agricultural economics and social expert Irham said.

“Bulog should also focus on other staple foods, such as corn, soybean and sago,” Irham said.
 

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