"About 2.4 percent of the nation's rice fields are likely to be affected by pests."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Ministry of Agriculture has set itself a target of producing 72.6 million tonnes of unhulled rice in 2013, up 4.5 percent from this year's rice production target of 68.96 million tonnes.
"In order to achieve the rice production target for 2013, we are cultivating 14.59 million hectares of farmland of which at least 14.08 million hectares are expected to be fully harvested," Agriculture Minister Suswono said here on Wednesday.
He stated that productivity was expected to reach 5.12 tonnes per hectare next year and the government would make efforts to ensure that agricultural land was not used for any other purpose than cultivation.
"Weather conditions next year are predicted to be similar to this year`s. Therefore, rice production could be affected by floods, droughts or pests," Suswono pointed out.
"About 2.4 percent of the nation's rice fields are likely to be affected by pests, while 3-5 percent could see decreased production due to bad climatic conditions," he added.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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