Indonesia to miss corn self-sufficiency target: USDA

Indonesia will miss its self-sufficiency target for corn despite an increase in the planted area, as demand for protein will rise and production "faces challenges due to inadequate storage, drying facilities and infrastructure bottlenecks", the USDA said in a report released late Tuesday.

Indonesia corn production is expected to reach 12 million mt for the 2018/19 season, more than a three-year high and up 500,000 mt on the year.

But imports are expected to increase 100,000 mt to 600,000 mt over the same period, the US agency said, undermining the archipelago’s self-sufficiency goals and forcing the government to abolish import restrictions.

"Continuous growth of the middle class will drive higher demand for protein sources in daily diets," the USDA said.

The Ministry of Agriculture has passed measures to promote corn self-sufficiency including subsidising seeds and fertilizer.

In 2016/17, the government identified a planted area of 4 million hectares as the target for that year, up 1 million hectares on the planted area the year before.

"However, this area target is unrealistic as neither sufficient land nor seed is available to meet this goal," the USDA concluded.