Jakarta [Indonesia], March 30: The Indonesian government has increased subsidized fertilizers from 4.7 million tons to 9.5 million tons to help achieve food self-sufficiency, said an official on Saturday.
Yadi Sofyan Noor, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Farmers and Fishermen, said the subsidized fertilizers prepared by the government for farmers throughout the country must be a trigger for realizing food self-sufficiency.
According to him, the total value of 9.5 million tons of fertilizers is 54 trillion rupiah (around 3.4 billion U.S. dollars).
He added that the subsidized fertilizers included chemical and organic fertilizers for nine types of commodities, namely rice, corn, soybeans, chilies, shallots, garlic, sugar cane, coffee and cocoa.
In January, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said Indonesia would import 3 million tons of rice this year to fulfill its rice deficit, caused by the El Nino weather pattern.
Source: Xinhua