JAKARTA: Indonesia's unmilled rice output will climb almost 5 percent next year on favourable weather, the Agriculture Minister said on Wednesday, helping cut its reliance on imports for the staple grain and speed up its self-sufficiency efforts.
Indonesia - Southeast Asia's largest economy - has been struggling to meet rising food demand from an increasingly affluent population of 240 million.
It is now the world's top importer of raw sugar, Asia's largest buyer of wheat, and imports about 2 million tonnes of rice and corn each year.
Unmilled rice output will rise to 72.064 million tonnes in 2013, from 68.965 million tonnes forecast for 2012, Agriculture Minister Suswono said at a agriculture ministry news conference. All 2012 projections were from Indonesia's Statistics Bureau.
Dry weather in Indonesia hurt the output of numerous agricultural commodities this year, but Suswono expects crop-friendly weather to boost output next year.
"Climate conditions in 2013 are estimated to be relatively conducive for agriculture," Suswono said, adding that the country's economic growth, up more than 6 percent this year, will help boost demand and output. "We are optimistic enough to set all the targets for 2013."
He pegged crude palm oil output from the world's top producer of the edible oil at 27.046 million tonnes next year, rising 15 percent from 23.521 million tonnes in 2012.
Coffee bean production is likely to climb 16.1 percent to 763,000 tonnes in 2013, while cocoa bean output is expected to add 6 percent to 958,000 tonnes next year, Suswono said.
Indonesian government output estimates are sometimes above market forecasts, and are often altered throughout the year.
For instance, the Indonesian Cocoa Association sees output this year at between 435,000 and 450,000 tonnes, while the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and Industries has forecast flat production next year at 650,000-700,000 tonnes.
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