Govt aims to increase soybean production

The Agriculture Ministry has announced plans to set aside 50,000 hectares of land for soybean plantations, in efforts to boost local soybean production this year, an official says.

The additional land could increase production by up to 50,000 tons of soybeans a year, Agriculture Ministry's director general of food crops Udhoro Kasih Anggoro said Sunday as quoted by kontan.co.id

“We will choose land in West, Central and East Java,” Udhoro said, adding that the land to be used belonged to PT Pertani.

The ministry will work with farmers to rent land, purchase fertilizer and to pay for harvest. “The cooperation system may be different from one region to another,” he said.

National Soybean Council chief Benny Kusbini said greater cooperation between the government and soybean farmers could improve conditions for farmers.

“Land scarcity is one of farmer's main obstacles in soybean production,” he said.

According to the Central Statistic Agency, Indonesia's soybean production is expected to reach 934,000 tons this year.

The target was above last year's, which reached 908,110 tons.