"It is a signal for us to stand. We need stocks which are not for consumption," he said at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) here on Saturday.
Hatta said rice imports were needed due to depleting rice fields in Java which is the country`s rice producing center, moreover now when drought has already been seen affecting a number of regions in the country.
Meanwhile "El Nino is expected to come next year. The drought has happened and been seen," he said.
He said Indonesia needs two million tons of rice as stock and to meet it it needs to import.
He said the government would strive to assure enough rice supply in the country by encouraging rice field extension.
The government has already allocated 300,000 hectares of land for rice fields in Bengkulu, Sumatra, and two million hectares more for agricultural areas, he said.
He said the effort was part of the medium-term effort following the depletion of productive rice fields.
"We need to extend rice fields outside Java. The fields in Java have shrunk," he said. (*)
H-YH/HAJM
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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