Indonesia's statistics bureau said on Monday that 2009 unmilled rice output was set to rise 1.13 percent to 60.93 million tonnes in a year when the country is targeting the first rice exports for 16 years. The statistics agency said it expected rice output to increase by 0.68 million tonnes in 2009, supported by larger harvested areas, although the figure was below an earlier Agriculture Ministry forecast of 63.5 million tonnes.
"There is hope that we can still achieve self-reliance on rice and can also export," Rusman Heriawan, head of the Central Bureau of Statistics, told reporters. The government has said it may allow state procurement agency, Bulog, to be the sole exporter of all types of rice in order to safeguard domestic supply. Bulog has said exports of medium-quality rice, which is mostly consumed by Indonesia's 226 million population, will only be done in the third quarter once it is clear whether Indonesia has met its production target.
It was the statistics agency's first preliminary forecast for this year. The statistics bureau makes three projections on a quarterly basis every year. The statistics bureau also said corn production was expected to increase to 16.48 million tonnes this year, up 0.95 percent, or 154,320 tonnes, from 2008. The Agriculture Ministry had earlier forecast corn production of 18 million tonnes for this year. The statistics bureau said soybean output is expected to be around 850,000 tonnes in 2009, up 9.50 percent, or 73,740 tonnes, from a year ago.
Comments
Comments are closed.