Indonesia expects unmilled rice production to fall 2.3 percent to 53.13 million tonnes this year from 54.4 million tonnes in 2006 due to a decrease in planted area, the state statistics bureau said on Thursday.
The outlook is the first preliminary forecast of this year. Indonesia's statistics bureau (BPS) makes three projections on a quarterly basis every year. The forecast is far below the government's target of 58.18 million tonnes of unmilled rice in 2007. "The expected decline in rice output is because of decreasing planted areas in Java," Pietojo, the bureau's deputy for economic statistics, told a news conference.
But the government has also announced plans to import up to 1.5 million tonnes of rice this year to stabilise rice prices amid an expected drop in domestic rice production due to erratic weather.
Indonesia kept a rice imports ban by private traders in place since 2004, aimed at combating smuggling that disrupts domestic prices of local rice a staple food for the country's 220 million people particularly during the harvest period.
The statistics bureau said corn production is expected to rise by 6.64 percent to 12.38 million tonnes this year from 11.61 million tonnes in 2006 due to an increase in planted area and improving productivity.
Soybean output is expected to fall by 0.47 percent to 745,530 tonnes this year from 749,040 tonnes in 2006 due to a decrease in planted areas despite improving productivity.