Forests Produce 9.4 Million Tons Of Food

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Inter-cropping activities in Indonesian forests contribute 9.4 million tons of production per annum which so far have never been registered as national statistics,  a minister said.

The production is obtained from state-owned forest company Perhutani amounting to 5.3 million tons, people's forests 1 million tons, societal forests 13,500 tons, village forests 3,300 tons, smallholders' forests (HTR) 52,500 tons and timber estates concession (HPHTI) 3 million tons, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said on Thursday.

"So far some people have been wondering whether Indonesia  is really able to become self-sufficient in food. Therefore, we are setting aside 5 percent spaces of the forest concession and timber estates," the minister told a seminar held to observe World Food Day.

He however admitted that it was not easy to set aside land spaces for food production activities because there must be sides who had to cultivate them so that they would not be left neglected.

"We should not repeat the past mistakes. If you find spaces suitable for rice field cultivation, please do it. We have prepared 200,000 hectares in Kalimantan," the minister said.(*/T007)