Speaking to the press here on Wednesday, he said the government had set itself the target of achieving a rice production surplus of 10 million tons over the next five years.
"So the rise in the budget allocation by Rp600 billion will be primarily used to increase rice production," he said.
He said although priority would be given to increasing rice production it did not mean that other food crops would be neglected.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presented the draft 2012 budget to the parliament on Tuesday in which the budget for the agricultural sector was set at Rp17.8 trillion.
He said the budget was intended particularly for increasing rice production and agricultural productivity and agricultural products quality in a wider sense.
The government meanwhile would also allocate Rp41.9 trillion for food resilience development in 2012.
He said the budget would be among others for achieving the 10- million-ton rice surplus program over the next five to ten years.
In 2012 the government would also allocate Rp674 billion for direct fertilizer assistance which is equal to 192.800 tons.
He said Rp1.8 trillion would also be provided for direct prime seed assistance which is equal to 185,000 tons of seeds.
Suswono said one of the efforts to take to increase rice production was among others optimizing the use of rain-fed swamps, the potential of which is big. He said he would also increase intensification.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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