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Government has no plan to import rice this year
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Nice rice harvest – Farmers carry rice paddy grains that they will mill at a milling factory in Ngawi, East Java. (Antara/Ari Bowo Sucipto)
T
he government has expressed its optimism that the country’s rice harvest will be adequate to meet the market demand this year.
State logistics agency (Bulog), whose function is to stabilize rice prices, allocates for no rice imports this year.
"God willing, there will be no rice imports this year. The spirit is not to import, save for an urgent situation," said Bulog chairman Djarot Kusumayakti in a media briefing on Tuesday.
(Read also: Indonesia sees rice stocks soar, no imports planned until year-end)
Last year, the government imported 1.2 million tons of rice, but it was ordered in 2015 while no new rice imports were booked in 2016.
The Agriculture Ministry, meanwhile, is upbeat about this year's production reaching 80 million tons of rice, more than the annual national demand of 60 million tons.
Experts, however, caution the government about providing accurate data on supply and demand, which is something that has been a sensitive issue in the country for years.
Local rice procurement, meanwhile, is slated at 3.7 million tons by Bulog to distribute to people with low incomes. (bbn)
