Jakarta – The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) said on Tuesday that it would import some one million tons of rice this year, higher than an earlier target of 500,000 to 700,000 tons, to meet domestic demand.
Widjanarko Puspoyo, Bulog's chief, said the move was aimed at anticipating possible reduced domestic output due to poor harvests and the impact of the El Ni$o weather phenomenon.
"We [Bulog] will raise the target for rice imports to about one million tons this year," Widjanarko told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with House of Representatives Commission III for agriculture and food affairs.
The imports are part of the agency's plan to supply about three million tons of rice this year.
Widjanarko said the country's rice production had been steadily declining since 1998 due to the shrinking total crop area.
Many agricultural experts, however, blamed the decline in the rice output on the government's rice policy which, they said, was aimed at keeping the price of rice low and, as such, had failed to improve farmers' welfare.
The low purchasing power of farmers to buy fertilizers has thus affected the country's rice output.
The price of unhusked rice in several provinces hasreportedly dropped to below Rp 1,000 (9.6 US cents) per kilogram today, lower than the floor price of Rp 1,400 set under the government's rice stabilization program last year.
Regarding El Nino, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that the weather phenomenon was likely to return this year. El Nino last occurred in the Pacific in 1997-1998. It was blamed for a searing drought in Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines.
Suhardo, Bulog's spokesman, earlier told The Jakarta Post that the return of El Nino would cause a decline in domestic production of about 5 percent to 10 percent. Bulog predicted that rice production was expected to reach about 51 million tons this year.
Indonesia, traditionally one of the world's largest rice buyers, has signed a one-year deal to import some 500,000 tons of rice from the government-run Vietnam Southern Food Corp. Under the deal, Bulog would pay for the rice by means of a"deferred payment" during the two years following the shipment.
Widjanarko said the realization of imports from Vietnam would very much depend on domestic needs. As of January, total imports from Vietnam amounted to about 100,000 tons.
"A further 100,000 tons are expected to arrive in Indonesia in March, while the remainder will be adjusted according to domestic needs," he said. Widjanarko said that it was still unclear from where Indonesia would import the other 500,000 tons.
Suhardo earlier said that the agency was now considering importing additional rice from countries other than Vietnam. "We may import rice from Thailand, China or the U.S this year," he said.
Thailand has been the world's leading rice exporter for decades, followed by the US and Vietnam.