Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's food-production targets could be hit this year because unscrupulous officials have allegedly been exporting fertiliser and reaping huge profits – at the expense of farmers here, who desperately need the commodity for their own crops.

The practice has gone on for years, sources told The Straits Times, but officials have done little to stop it and ensure that Indonesian farmers receive adequate supplies.

Food production will become more crucial this year as a severe drought has hit several rice-growing regions, resulting in water shortage and devastated crops.

The government had previously projected that the rice harvest this year would reach over 51 million tonnes. But officials at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) admitted recently that environmental factors and the lack of fertiliser could see a total yield of only 48.5 million tonnes.

"Farmers are already in bad shape. There is drought and lack of water, fertiliser problems, difficulty in getting good seeds ... Unfortunately the government still cannot focus enough on addressing these serious issues," said Mr H.S. Dillion, an agriculture specialist and former government adviser on poverty issues. "This could result in greater poverty and all the social problems which that brings."

Farmers have staged several protests in recent months against what they see as government inaction in the face of their troubles.

Any shortfall in rice production will not only hit the income of farmers but could also affect the poor – reducing their access to affordable staple food products – and could trigger social unrest.

Agriculture experts said Indonesia might be forced to import 2.5 million tonnes of rice this year to avoid wide-scale shortage. That figure is much higher than the 1.5 million tonnes that Jakarta imported last year to meet demand.

On paper, Indonesia's six state-owned fertiliser plants produce 6.5 million tonnes of fertiliser each year, more than enough to meet the 4.5-million-tonne domestic demand. Government regulations require that this be sold at subsidised prices to farmers first. Firms are only allowed to export leftover supplies.

But a Jakarta-based trader said that he has been able to buy fertiliser freely from state-run distribution centres and export the product to a number of South-east Asian countries. "I heard there is a ban on exports. But producers make more profit by exporting and earning US dollars," he said.

When contacted, Mr Ato Suprapto, a director-general at the Agriculture Ministry, said yesterday: "We have already told producers to distribute extra amounts to areas experiencing scarcity. We stopped exports already. Distributors know they have to meet local demands. This year's shortage was not the result of illegal exports, but rather of technical problems at several fertiliser plants."

When asked to explain how exporting agents could still buy easily from official distributors, he claimed that his ministry does not monitor the trade: "Ask the Industry and Trade Ministry for info on that."

Officials at the Industry and Trade Ministry and at PT Pusri, the holding firm that manages Indonesia's fertiliser plants, declined to be interviewed.