INDONESIA (2 June)
The harvesting of the 2003 main paddy crop has been completed. The 2003 paddy output is forecast at 51.4 million tonnes, slightly higher than the previous year. With the aim of encouraging rice farmers to increase rice production, the Government has increased the rice farm-gate price. Fertilizer has been subsidized and the import tariff for rice has been increased from zero percent to 30 percent.
The harvesting of the 2003 maize crop was completed in April. The 2003 maize output is estimated at 9.66 million tonnes, up 1.5 percent on a year earlier, due to a slight increase in area and yield.
Overall food situation in the country continues to stabilize. The rice import in 2003/04 is forecast at 3.4 million tonnes, 0.1 million tonnes above the previous year. The maize import is projected at 1.4 million tonnes based on the increasing demand from the livestock sector.