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Indonesia Will Export Rice

04/27/08 09:58
Indonesia to exports rice only when rice stock over 3 mln tons


Pangkep, South Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Vice President M Jusuf Kalla said Indonesia would export rice only when its domestic rice stock reaches a volume of over three million tons.

"Logically speaking, we are capable of reaching the target, because we have 12 million hectares of productive farming areas, which could be harvested twice annually," Kalla said here on Saturday after taking part in a grand harvest and the sowing of hybrid paddy seeds to mark the start of the 2008 planting season.

He hoped that the country`s rice production could be increased to more than three million per year by using superior paddy seeds.

The government would keep on supporting farmers to improve rice production by providing hybrid paddy seeds and subsidized fertilizers, and improving irrigation works, the vice president said.

The government had allocated Rp1.4 trillion for procurement of superior seeds last year, and increased the budget to around Rp6 trillion this year, he said. For fertilizer subsidy, the government would allocate Rp11 trillion this year, he added.

The world is currently facing a food crisis but conditions in Indonesia were still better than in the Philippines and Bangladesh thanks to rice production surpluses in several regions, according to the vice president.