TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Government to reduce people’s dependency on rice
Change Size
A typical Indonesian meal has a large portion of rice, served with fried side dishes and a few vegetables. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he government is working to reduce people’s dependency on rice by promoting other sources of carbohydrates because rice consumption per capita is still much higher than in other Asian countries.
The head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Food Sovereignty Agency, Agung Hendriadi, said the government would promote the planting of various kinds of tubers such as yam (gembili), arrowroot (garut), cassava as well as corn and sago as alternative sources of carbohydrate.
“This diversification program is part of our effort to reduce people’s dependency on rice,” said Agung in Jakarta as reported by kompas.com on Wednesday.
The Agriculture Ministry shows that Indonesia's rice consumption per capita is estimated to be still at 124 kilograms this year, compared to South Korean people, who consume 40 kg, Japan (50 kg), Thailand (70 kg) and Malaysia (80 kg).
Although rice consumption per capita is still high, Indonesia has managed to reduce people's dependency because in 2010, per capita rice consumption was at 130 kg per year in 2016 and 124 kg in 2014.
Agung said the government's target next year was to reduce rice consumption per capita to 90 kg per year. “Ideally, we have to reduce rice consumption per capita to 50 kg per year, but it’s already good if we can reduce it to 90 kg,” he added. (bbn)
