Indonesia's food security remains fragile

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the country's ability to provide enough food to an ever-increasing population was still fragile, a local media reported on Wednesday.

"We're still fragile when it comes to food security. Demand is increasing because of the rising population. An increase in the middle class will also mean more food will be consumed as purchasing power gets stronger," Yudhoyono said.

He made the remarks to a group of agriculture and food experts during the Food Security Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center on Tuesday.

Yudhoyono said that his administration would remain cautious over the issue, but had taken some measures to help provide enough food to the population.

Indonesia is home to 240 million people and is the world's fourth-largest country after China, India and the United States. Its population has been growing by about 1.5 percent annually, according to the National Demography and Family Planning Agency ( BKKBN). That population growth is among the highest in Southeast Asia.

"With a large population, we're still facing problems of low agricultural productivity and low purchasing power among farmers," Yudhoyono said as quoted by the Jakarta Post.

Indonesia has allocated about 37 trillion rupiah (about $4.1 billion) in food subsidies this year. Those subsidies are for such things as seeds, fertilizers and a food-price stabilization program, according to Deputy Finance Minister Mahendra Siregar.

Those subsidies, however, were 5 percent lower than they were last year.

"We still need to expand infrastructure to support agricultural activities in order to help boost food production," Deputy Public Works Minister Hermanto Dardak said.

He added that irrigation systems managed by local administrations also needed improvement.

"Less than half of the irrigation systems managed by the provincial and municipal governments are in a damaged condition. If they are not doing something about it, I fear it will disturb our rice production target," he said.

The government aims to produce 70 million tons of unhusked rice this year, up by around 7 percent from last year's 65.3 million tons.