March 27, 2006
Indonesia hopes to reach corn self-sufficiency in two years
The National Corn Council (DJN) has aimed to reach corn self-sufficiency in Indonesia by 2007, its chairman said on Friday (Mar 24).
With the US reducing corn exports by 15 and 20 percent in 2006 while China would stop corn exports altogether, it would be a good opportunity for Indonesia to step on to cover the deficit, Fadel said.
Indonesia's corn import in 2003 was between 1.5 and 2 million tonnes, and in 2005 it fell to 400,000 tonnes.
The country hopes to double annual production from last year's 11.4 million tonnes to 21.17 million tonnes in 2010.
To succeed, government support would be needed to mobilise the stakeholders, Fadel said.
Coordination among government institution is needed to provide seeds and land as well as to develop irrigation systems, Fadel said. Financial institutions also need to be developed in those regions to give farmers access to loans, he said.
The government should consider the potentials of Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Sumatra and develop infrastructure on those islands, he said.
Sulawesi in particular, is well suited to be the country's corn producing center as it has some 2.7 million hectares of land suitable for corn planting, Fadel said.
He estimated that an investment of about Rp 3.5 trillion (US$380 million) would be needed to rapidly expand the hectarage under corn in Sulawesi up to 2007, and another Rp 1.5 trillion (US$165 million) up to 2010.
South Sulawesi is among six provinces in the government's blueprint for the first stage of an agricultural revitalization project launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year.
Under the blueprint, corn, rice, soybeans, sugar and beef production would be the main items identified by the government to achieve self-sufficiency over the short and medium terms.
Indonesia's agricultural sector has been falling behind its Asian counterparts due to poor management and planning on top of widespread corruption by previous governments.
