December 11, 2007

Corn company touts GM corn as Indonesia fails to reach self sufficiency

As Indonesia looks all but certain to fall short of its goal to achieve corn self sufficiency this year, an Indonesian corn company is urging farmers to switch to GM corn for better yields.

Indonesia, with average corn production at 3.6 tonne per hectare, can only meet 60 percent of local requirements, the company estimates.

The country would be self sufficient in corn supply next year if the use of hybrid seeds is expanded, according to  PT Benih Inti Subur Intani (Bisi) International, a producer of corn seeds of high yield variety.

Bisi Director Setiadi Setiokusumo said hybrid seeds could turn out 14 tonnes of corn per hectare per year, more than triple the 3.6-tonne average in the country.

Indonesia has also pledged to become self sufficient in soy by 2015. the country currently imports 65 percent of its requirements while production, which stood at 1 million tonnes in 2000, has since declined to 749,000 tonnes last year.

PT BISI was established in 1983, a joint venture between the Thailand-based Charoen Phophand (80 percent share) and a national company PT Central Pertiwi Indonesia (20 percent). It leads the hybrid corn seed market in Indonesia.

Bisi had recently prosecuted farmers for breeding their own corn seeds from Bisi's seeds.