With Indonesia’s rice consumption higher than its regional neighbours, the government says it will be making efforts to reduce dependency on rice by promoting other sources of carbohydrates.
“This diversification program is part of our effort to reduce people’s dependency on rice,” said Agung Hendriadi, head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Food Sovereignty Agency in Jakarta as reported by kompas.com on Wednesday. Among the alternative foods promoted by the government are yam, arrowroot, cassava, corn and sago.
According to data by the Agricultural Ministry, Indonesia’s consumption per capita is estimated at 124 kilograms this year, which is considerably higher than Malaysia (80 kg), Thailand (70 kg), Japan (50 kg) and South Korea (40 kg).
While Indonesia’s current figure is notably higher than the others, it has gradually declined since 2010. The government’s target is 90 kilograms. “Ideally, we have to reduce its consumption per capita to 50 kg per year, but it’s already good if we can reduce it to 90 kg,” Agung added.