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As prices for soybeans recover from last year’s lows, Indonesian farmers are expected to lift their output 35 percent next year to 1.3 million tons, leading to a fall in imports, the Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday. This year’s harvest is projected to yield 966,000 tons.

“We plan to reduce the import volume of soybeans year-on-year by increasing productivity and adding planting land,” said Muchlizar Murkan, director of beans and tuber vegetables the Agriculture Ministry.

He said yields would rise 12 percent per hectare next year by using high-quality seeds, along with farmers expanding their area under cultivation by 20 percent to 874,000 hectares from 728,000 hectares currently.

Two of the nation’s favorite processed foods, tofu and tempeh, are made from soybeans. Domestic demand for the crop was two million tons this year, making the nation a net importer, mainly from the United States and Brazil.

Muchlizar said the rise of soybean prices to Rp 5,500 to Rp 6,500 (58 cents to 68 cents) per kilogram from mid-2008 lows made the crop attractive for farmers.

“If soybean prices continue to rise in the next few years, I’m sure we can reach our self-sufficiency target in 2014,” Muchlizar said.

The ministry is also urging state-owned growers to begin planting soybeans next year.

PT Perkebunan Nusantara II has committed to plant 300,000 hectares in Medan next year; PT Perkebunan Nusantara XII will add 500,000 hectares; and PT Perhutani will plant 20,000, Muchlizar said.

The US and Brazil have dominated the country’s soybean market since mid-2008, when soybean prices plunged to Rp 3,000 per kg, while domestic production costs were Rp 3,500 to Rp 4,000.

Farmers sell their soybeans to the tofu and tempeh industries for as much as Rp 6,500 per kg, while imported beans wholesale for about Rp 5,250.

Benny A Kusbini, chairman of the Indonesian Soybean Board (DKI), had earlier proposed that the government impose a 20 percent import tariff to protect the domestic crop, which is more expensive to produce and market than imports.

At present, there is no soybean tariff.

“Domestic soybean farmers should not compete with imports because of the price difference,” Benny said.