INDONESIA STRIVES FOR FOOD SUFFICIENCY BY 2018 by Fardah

Jakarta, Oct 17, 2016  (Antara) - Food security and resilience have been an ongoing issue for Indonesia, which was once a major rice exporter in Asia, but now relies heavily on rice imports to meet the public's staple food requirements.

         Food security has been given serious attention because it is also an important social objective. Relying on food markets outside the country to meet the needs of Indonesia's growing population is recognized as not healthy.

          The Indonesian government, therefore, is striving for food self-sufficiency, which is expected to be realized in 2018.

         Thousands of military personnel have been deployed to help farmers in various regions plant rice and other crops. 
   "Food-sufficiency is expected to be realized within three years, for which the efforts started a year ago," Vice President M Jusuf Kalla asserted recently. 
    In order to reach the target, several steps have been implemented, including improvements in irrigation methods, along with seedling and fertilizer preparations.

         Some results are expected to be seen as of this year, as Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said the country is expecting to have a surplus of 400,000 tons of rice this year.

        "There would be a surplus of 400,000 tons and, God willing, there would be no more scarcity in supply of this staple food product," Amran said on the sidelines of a food exhibition in early October.

         The minister said, based on a survey by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), the country's rice production rose significantly this year.

         The survey noted that planting areas in July-September, 2016  reached 1 million hectares, up significantly from an average of 500,000 hectares in earlier years.

         Based on an assumption that a hectare would produce 6 tons of unhulled rice,  the country's production of unhulled rice would total 6 million tons, equivalent to 3 million tons of milled rice, as against a monthly consumption of 2.6 million tons.

         Therefore, the country's rice stock is sufficient, despite the  extreme weather that damaged rice crops in the country this year.

             "In addition, irrigation systems have been repaired in areas in Indonesia, in cooperation with the Public Works Ministry, Andi said.

         He added that the agriculture ministry has prepared 15,000 hectares of farm lands to grow with chilli, in response to shortages in supplies. Similar plans have also been created for onion and corn crops.

          The minister said he hoped that  Kalimantan, which is rich in natural resources,  would be self sufficient in food supplies by 2017.

          The five provinces of Kalimantan-- Central, East, West, South and North Kalimantan - have the potential to become self sufficient in rice, with rice fields totaling 1,047,837 hectares.

           If all of the rice fields are cultivated, with two planting seasons per year, they could produce 5 million tons of rice, as against consumption of only 2.5 million tons, the minister said when visiting Samarinda, East Kalimantan, recently.

           "The government is optimistic that self sufficiency in food could be achieved with support from all concerned, such as from local academicians," he said, when delivering a lecture at the state Mulawarman University  in East Kalimantan, discussing the role of state higher  education institutes in reaching food self sufficiency in Eastern Indonesia.

        The minister said academicians from local higher learning institutes could play a role by providing farmers with guidelines when applying modern farming techniques.

         The academicians could also help with innovations in farming technology for use by farmers, he said.

        In a coordinating meeting on food with the regional administration, the minister said Kalimantan should be self sufficient in food by 2017.

         He noted that Kalimantan should no longer need to be dependent on rice supplies from other parts of the country, such as Surabaya and Sulawesi.

         "On the contrary, Kalimantan should start thinking about exporting the staple foods," he said.

          East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak said, as a natural resources rich region, East Kalimatan is set to improve its productivity and strengthen its competitiveness, especially in the food and farming sector.

          Meanwhile, Rector of Mulawarman University, Prof. Dr. H. Masjaya,  said the university is ready to help the government in achieving food self sufficiency in eastern Indonesia, especially in  Kalimantan.

          "We are confident with cooperation  and support from all, food self sufficiency  in Kalimantan is not too difficult a target. We can even start thinking about exports to other countries," the professor said.

         Besides rice, the government is optimistic that the country would be self sufficient in salt supplies in 2017.

         The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has taken steps to improve the quality of farmers' salt to meet the standards for household consumption and industries.

          Agung Kuswandono, the Deputy II in Coordination of Natural Resources and Service at the office of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, said the country needs some 4.02 million tons of salt including, 2.05 million tons of industrial salt and 1.97 million tons of salt for consumption. 
    The domestic production is some 3.8 million tons per year, including 3.1 million tons of farmers' salt and 700,000 tons produced by state -owned salt company PT Garam.

         Based on data from the Indonesian Association of Salt Consuming Industries (AIPGI),  in 2015 the country required 400,000 tons of salt to preserve fish each year.

         The process of fish salting does not generally use iodine, although iodine is important for human health, Agung said.

         Indonesia imports salt, particularly from Australia, to cover the deficit in domestic supplies. ***3***
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(T.F001/B/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 17-10-2016 12:50:39