Bali’s food dependency is growing: Official

Bali is growing increasingly dependent on basic food imports from its neighboring islands, a senior official says.

The island’s decreasing domestic production, high rate of land conversion and a steady drop in the number of Balinese youths willing to work in the agricultural sector are believed to be the main factors that have driven up the island’s food dependency.

“Presently, the island is still capable of producing a significant quantity of three out of the nine basic food commodities,” provincial trade and industry agency senior official I Ketut Darta said, adding that the three commodities were rice, beef and chicken meats.

“The island can produce up to 80 percent of its total consumption of those three commodities,” he added.

Bali does not have sugar or salt production. It does produce cooking oil, chicken eggs and milk, but in very small quantities that are far short of its consumption.

The island’s average sugar consumption is 5,200 tons per month, and its average sugar import has reached 5,500 tons per month.

The island produces up to 50 tons of cooking oil per month, far below the average consumption of 4,900 tons per month. Similarly, it produces 14 tons of milk per month, but imports 2,700 tons per month.

Moreover, the island’s steadily growing population has pushed up food consumption.

The government estimated that the island’s rice consumption would reach 45,900 tons per month by the end of 2011.

“The local rice production is an average of 60,000 tons per month, so the local production should be able to meet the estimated increase in consumption.

“However, field observations show that consumers prefer rice imported from neighboring islands to the that produced here,” he said, adding that up to 5,000 tons of rice were imported per month.

—JP/ Luh De Suriyani