REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Agriculture Ministry has targeted to stop the import of corn that is used as raw material for producing livestock feed in 2017, an official of the ministry stated.

The ministry has expanded the corn plantation area by two million hectares and has encouraged feed producers to buy corn produced locally, an official of the Ministry's Directorate General of Animal Feed Triastuti Andajani said in a statement.

Corn is the largest component in livestock feed production. "With the increasing population of poultry, including broilers, hens, local chicken, and ducks, the demand for corn has also increased," she pointed out.

The Indonesian Feed Millers Association (GPMT) has forecast that feed production in 2017 could reach 18.5 million tons, and it would need 9.25 million tons of corn. Independent farmers will need some 3.6 million tons of corn based on the assumption of 300,000 tons of consumption per month.

Corn demand for animal feed in 2017 is estimated to reach 12.85 million tons, or 1.1 million tons per month on an average. In September, the ministry and GPMT had signed a memorandum of understanding, which was followed by cooperation between the agriculture offices in 33 provinces and local feed producers to buy corn produced locally.

The cooperation is aimed at ensuring that animal feed producers buy locally produced corn, with price reference based on Trade Minister's Regulation No. 21 of 2016. The ministry's data revealed that corn imports in 2016, as of December, had declined to 884,679 tons, or 68 percent as compared to imports during the last five years.

The country had imported 3 million tons of corn in 2011, 1.5 million tons in 2012, 2.95 million tons in 2013, 3.1 million tons in 2014, and 2.74 million tons in 2015.

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