Sleman Sets Rice Production Target At 280,000 Tons

Sleman, Central Java, July 1 (Antara) - Sleman District of Yogyakarta has set its production target for unhusked rice at 279,800 tons, down from 312,815 tons in 2012. Sleman will grow the crop over a 44,426 hectares of lands this year, the head of the public relations office of the Sleman district administration, Endah Sri Widiastuti, said here on Monday. Despite the decline the district is expected to remain the largest producer of the staple food in Yogyakarta. "With productivity expected at 6.42 tons per hectare the production would reach 279,800 tons," Endah said. Pest and rat attacks , however, could come in the way of the district to reach the production target, she said. She also expressed concerns with the encroaching urbanization on rice fields, and decline in fertility of lands in some areas contributing to the decline in rice production. She said pest and rat attacks could damage up to 7,200 hectares of the crop every year causing a loss of around 1,000 tons in unhusked rice. "In 2012 , the regency of Sleman was still the largest rice producer in Yogyakarta," she said. In 2012, the regency had a surplus of 109,725 tons of rice or an increase of 41.8 percent from the previous year`s surplus of 63,865 tons. "The increase was attributable mainly to improved productivity to 6.79 tons in 2012 from 5.69 tons per hectare in 2011," Endah said. The increase in productivity pushed up the district`s production of unhsuked rice to 312,815 tons from 232,713 ton in 2011.