Rice Import Policy To Forestall El Nino Impact Hailed

Kupang, July 3 (Antara) - Agribusiness observer from the University of Nusa Cendana Kupang Leta Rafael Levis hailed the plan of the government to import 500,000 tons of rice to forestall impact of El Nino. The decision to import rice is a right one to ward off the impact of long drought brought about by the weather phenomenon, Leta said here on Wednesday. He said there might be shortage in domestic supply of rice , soybean, tuber and other food products as a result of long drought. The weather phenomenon is feared to hit the eastern regions of the country in August. Experts, however, dismissed fear that the impact would be serious. Supari, a climatologist from the Meteorology and Geophysics (BMKG) office said there was no cause for much concern. The kind of El Nino that would hit Papua, Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara would cause no much damage, Supari said. He said there is little possibility of forest fires triggered by El Nino this year as the El Nino would be weak and there is enough rainfall. "It would be different with the kind of El Nino that hit the country in 1997, when it was relatively strong causing the air dry with little rainfall," he said. Deputy Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said the El Nino has hit the country every year, therefore, the government continues to take precautionary measure to cope with the impact. "What is important is that rice production would not be less than recorded in 2013," Rusman said here last week. He said the types of rice to be imported are premium type totaling 200,000 tons and medium type totaling 300,000 tons. He said the planned imports are to only to strengthen stocks, adding it was only a plan that may not need execution. He predicted that the El Nino would hit the country only in October, November, and December. Leta, however, said the plan has to be executed as a precaution to strengthen stocks in areas which have strong indications of long drought. He said most farmers in East Nusa Tenggara notably in Timor, Lembata and Sumba already suffer the impact of El Nino since April, 2014 with much less rainfall. There was no rain when rice and corn began to bear fruits, he said. He said in addition to rice import plan by the central government, the regional administration needs to optimize the food production centers in the region to face the possibility of harvest failure.