Indonesia is forecasting decreased output of unhooked rice, but corn and soyabeans are seen rising this year, the state statistics bureau said on Tuesday.
It said unhooked rice output would reach 53.98 million tonnes, down nearly 1 percent from a year ago, mainly due to erratic weather that had damaged and delayed harvests in the September to October period.
Heavily damaged cultivation areas and infrastructure in tsunami-hit Ache province were partly responsible for the lower rice output this year, statistics bureau chief Chorale Maxim told reporters.
The Indonesian government has said it will allow imports of around 250,000 tonnes of rice only if local rice prices average 3,500 rupiah ($0.35) a kg and stocks at the state logistics agency fall below 1 million tonnes.
Since 2004 the world's fourth most populous country has had a rice import ban in place due to run until December aimed at countering rampant smuggling that had disrupted domestic rice prices, particularly during the harvest season.
Rice is a staple food for Indonesia's 220 million people. Corn production is projected to rise to 12.01 million tonnes, a gain of about 6.5 percent compared to last year, boosted by higher productivity and larger cultivation areas.
Soyabean output was also seen up around 10 percent to 797,135 tonnes as some rice farmers have shifted to the commodity due to drought in parts of the country.
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