Medan , 30 / 3 (Xinhua) - The government ensures stop rice imports as of March 31, 2011 because in addition to the rice harvest is underway, the national rice stock is also quite adequate or could be for five to six months.
"Imported rice is stopped because it was considered no longer needed because the stock is adequate and there followed the harvest in almost all production centers," said Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Bayu Krisnamurthi, in Medan on Wednesday.
He stated that after a dialogue with a range of Bulog and Bulog partners and relevant agencies in the Warehouse Bulog Road Mustafa Medan .
The dialogue dimaksdukan to find out problems in the area of rice trading.
Nationally, he said, imports of rice has reached about 1, 6 million -1.7 million tons of which are all destined for national stockpiles, including commercial made by the government to flood the market amid turmoil in the market price.
"Stock is completely safe, even some areas such as in Sumatra very safe or get to the end of the middle of harvest which is also still ongoing. So there will be no problem if the import is stopped, "he said.
For today's imported rice which are on the way as yours Bulog Sumut as many as six ships with about 25,000 tons of cargo was not a problem despite the inclusion later in the port of Belawan on March 31.
"What is the import should not be started on March 31, because the government already decided to stop imports," he said.
To anticipate the procurement pascadihentikannya imports, the government will conduct the procurement of supplies by way of local or inter-island.
Local rice and the inter-island will further strengthen the national rice stock, he said.
Head of Bulog Divre North Sumatra , Muchtar Sa "ad, Bulog rice stocks sufficient to justify unsafe or 93,021 tons per 26 March, in which the amount was sufficient to supply the needs until the end of the year.
He also acknowledged, there are additional stock of about 25,000 tons of cargo imported from Vietnam six ships are the way to the Port of Belawan.
Meanwhile, the Head of Department of Agriculture of North Sumatra , M. Room S, say, until February 2011, rice yields in Deah it already exceeded the target, or 109 percent.
He admitted, this year, rainfall is good enough so that the harvest is kept alternately in the various production centers.
With that condition, he said, the estimated rice production target by 3.6 million tons of dried grain harvest this year will be achieved.
"Termination of imported rice farmers would be more exciting, because the demand for local rice will be more and more and it triggered the price of rice or rice farmers survive expensive," he said. (T.E016/B/B008/B008)
