Indonesia said it planned to destroy 35 containers of Indian higher-yielding seeds or hybrid corn because they were contaminated by viruses, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
"We can't compromise. When they contain any virus we must destroy them," Afrin Bastion, head of plant quarantine at the agriculture ministry, told Reuters. He said recent lab results showed the Indian hybrid corn contained two types of virus that can affect the growth of other crops.
However, thus far the government has not placed a ban on the shipment of Indian corn to Indonesia.
"Without an international appeal, we won't place any ban," Bastion added. Traders said the incident would not prevent the purchase of Indian corn in the future. "If the government doesn't place a ban then it shouldn't be a problem," Budiarto Soebijanto, chairman of the Indonesian Feedmillers Association, told Reuters.
Indonesia aims to plant half its corn crop with hybrid varieties by 2005 as part of efforts to improve productivity and slash imports of the commodity. The country imports around 1.1 to 1.2 million tonnes of corn annually, mainly from China.
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