Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has said Indonesia will see a significant increase in rice production this year, giving a push to the no-imports vision of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as his ambition to secure food sovereignty might materialize sooner than expected.

It is estimated that the production of unhusked rice (ARAM), a leading indicator of farmers' output, will soar by 6.64 percent to 75.5 million tons this year from 70.85 million tons last year.

That would be the biggest annual output increase in the last ten years, according to BPS data. For comparison, rice output in 2014 fell by 0.6 percent year-on-year.

"The significant increase in rice output this year could happen because of various initiatives undertaken by the government, notably in the distribution of pumps, tractors and fertilizers," BPS head Suryamin told a press briefing on Wednesday.

"The involvement of the Indonesian Military in securing the smooth distribution of fertilizers to farmers also played a crucial role," he added.

In 2015, farmers' productivity is predicted to rise 2.8 percent year-on-year to 1.45 quintal per hectare, while harvest size would increase 3.7 percent to 512,060 hectare, data from the BPS showed.

Jokowi has pledged that he will lead the country to become self-sufficient in rice production with the country aiming to require no more rice imports within three years.

Jokowi has stated that he would fire Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman if such a target could not be achieved, with Andi reportedly included on the President's list of ministers he would remove in a Cabinet reshuffle that might take place next month.

Indonesia, through the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), imported at least 425,000 tons of rice from Thailand and Vietnam last year. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/07/01/rice-output-soars-jokowi-s-policy-successful-bps.html