T

he government is optimistic that the country’s production of main staple foods will increase this year on the back of improved weather conditions and a planned expansion of arable land.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said on Monday that the production of unhusked rice would likely rise by 10.14 percent to 72.02 million tons this year — or equal to 40 million tons of husked rice — from 65.39 million tons last year as estimated by the Central Statistics Agency in its third forecast last November.

Meanwhile, the production of other key staple foods heavily affected by weather — corn and soybeans — was estimated to increase by 6.77 percent to 24 million tons and by 118.37 percent to 1.9 million tons respectively this year after a drop last year.

“We are optimistic that the weather will be normal as predicted by the BMKG [Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency] and allow for a higher food output,” he told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

BMKG climate deputy Widada Sulistya said on the same day that the climate would be normal this year with the dry season estimated to fall in March or April and the rainy season starting in September.

“So far, there are no signs of extreme weather. The climate pattern will be normal with dry and rainy seasons falling according to the cycle,” he told the Post.

Rusman said the increased rice output was also driven by a shift in the planting season caused by a long dry season in the past year.

“This has led to rice production shifting from the end of last year to the beginning of 2012. There is around 1 million tons of unhusked rice which will be harvested this year,” he explained.

According to Rusman, in a bid to boost food production, the Agriculture Ministry would also expand
arable land throughout the country in 2012.

“We aim to open 100,000 hectares of new fields this year,” he said, adding that apart from this program, his ministry was expecting to receive an additional 100,000 hectares of new land from state-owned enterprises in the future to help raise food production.

Rusman said that the government would also introduce various measures, such as a better managed distribution of seeds and subsidized fertilizer as well as revitalizing irrigation systems, to boost production and increase supply.

Indonesia, home to 240 million people, is the world’s third-largest rice consumer with an annual intake of 139 kilograms per capita.

Despite being self-sufficient in 2008 and 2009, the country started to import rice in 2010 after stockpiles fell and harvests failed to meet targets.

The Indonesian Logistics Agency had already been requested to import up to 2 million tons of rice through 2011 with the latest delivery in February this year, Deputy Trade Minister Bayu Krishnamurti said last November.

The rice price was the biggest contributor to last year’s overall headline inflation of 3.79 percent.

Meanwhile, corn and soybean consumption has reached 13 million kilograms and 2.4 million kilograms annually. The country imported 1.87 million tons of rice, 2.77 million tons of corn and 1.51 million tons of soybeans, in 2011 according to the latest BPS data.