S

outh Sulawesi'€™s aim of exporting rice is expected to be realized this year thanks to further increases in rice production in the province and a resulting rice surplus.

According to South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo, his administration had planned to export rice from last year, but the central government had not yet agreed.

'€œWe wanted to export rice last year but we have to get approval from the central government. We hope we can achieve it this year,'€ said Syahrul after opening the Indonesian Agricultural Economic Association seminar and national workshop in Makassar on Thursday.

According to its plan, South Sulawesi would export between 200,000 and 300,000 tons of rice to Malaysia and Thailand.

The provincial administration has requested permission from the Agriculture Ministry to export rice to the two countries. It has so far been selling its surplus to other islands and provinces. Last year, the province delivered rice to 26 provinces.

'€œWe prioritize domestic demand, but we also hope to be able to export rice to other countries given the further increase in our rice production,'€ said Syahrul.

South Sulawesi has been enjoying bumper yearly rice harvests. In 2014, production reached 5.1 million tons of dried unhusked rice, or paddy, equivalent to 3 million tons of rice. Given this volume, South Sulawesi had a rice surplus of 2.2 million tons, as local demand was only around 800,000 tons
annually.

This year, the production volume is expected to rise an additional 1 million tons, making a total of 6.1 million tons of paddy.

However, South Sulawesi Agriculture Office head Lutfi Halide was upbeat production could reach 6.4 million tons of paddy, or 3.5 million tons of rice, so the surplus would rise to 2.7 million tons.

Starting this year, the office will carry out farmland optimization contingency plans on 31,000 hectares of rice fields found in 12 regencies across the province, including providing free seedlings, fertilizer and hand tractors.

In addition, the irrigation system will be improved. Currently, 229,000 hectares of rice paddies in 21 regencies in the province are irrigated. The agricultural office will build three irrigation networks in the three regencies of Wajo, Jeneponto and North Luwu.

According to Lutfi, the total area of rice fields in the province spanned 1 million hectares. However, only 50 percent of them were irrigated.

'€œWe will make efforts to extend the irrigation networks. With good irrigation, we can optimize the planting season, from once to twice and from twice to three times,'€ he said.

The agriculture office is also working with the Wirabuana Military Command on the rice intensification program, in which Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel are to help farmers and optimize the use of technology and mechanical tools to cultivate the land. Thirty-two agricultural experts will also be involved in the program.

'€œWith these efforts, we are optimistic that rice production will increase. Last year, one hectare was only able to produce 5.8 tons of paddy; this year we expect production could reach 8 tons of paddy per hectare, so rice production could reach 6.4 million tons of dried paddy and a surplus of 2.7 million tons,'€ said Lutfi.

He added his office also planned to build a wholesale rice market to facilitate the rice trade, especially inter-province trade, which would be of great benefit to farmers in the province. Lutfi said the market would most likely be built in Parepare as they city had a dock. However, as the budget for the project was not yet available, he hoped the central government would provide its support.