•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Indonesia must increase investment in agricultural research to ensure adequate food supplies amid soaring global commodity prices and erratic weather patterns, a United Nations official said on Thursday.

“Indonesia should increase agricultural research and give technical capacity to farmers [whose crops] are affected by climate change,” said Ertharin Cousin, the US ambassador to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

“Food security is a priority and each government should ensure the population has access to quality food,” said Cousin, speaking by phone from Bangkok, where the FAO held a two-day regional consultation meeting that concluded on Thursday.

According to the FAO, global food production must increase by 70 percent by 2050 to feed the surge in demand, particularly from the developing world.

Cousin said the recent spike in food and energy prices had “contributed to food insecurity worldwide” and sparked civil unrest.

“[It] generated appeals for food aid from 36 countries,” she said.

According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, the costs of basic crops have increased by more than 80 percent in recent years.

Between January 2004 and May 2008, rice prices increased 224 percent, wheat by 108 percent and corn by 89 percent, it said.

The FAO said its gauge of monthly volatility in staple food prices came in at 231 points in January — the highest measurement since it started tracking the data in 1990.

On the back of surging dairy, cereal and oil costs, the index jumped 3.4 percent in the closing month of 2010. The FAO said the rise was most significant in China, India, Indonesia and Russia.

Cousin said the United States had pledged to funnel $3.5 billion for food-security programs in poor countries to cushion the blow of inflation.

Gatot Irianto, director general for infrastructure at the Agriculture Ministry, said the government had already earmarked Rp 1 trillion ($114 million) for agricultural research this year.

He also said the state was aiming for a 7 percent increase in food productivity by 2015, focusing on helping farmers protect their crops and boost output.

“We have distributed superior seeds and fertilizers directly to farmers as required by a presidential decree,” Gatot said.

“We also give aid to farmers who have 75 percent of their farms experiencing harvest failure,” he said.