Indonesia

Local provincial governments are working hard to develop farmland in other countries -- Russia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Paraguay, Uruguay -- because it’s cheaper than relying on imports

The planned expansion of plantations in the Papuan provinces of Indonesia should be immediately suspended and reviewed amid concerns over massive deforestation and widespread exploitation of local communities, environmentalists warned today.

The Saudi Binladin Group's $4.3 billion planned investment in Papua, east Indonesia, to develop rice fields has stalled because of problems acquiring land from local people.

Un accord entre le gouvernement et une entreprise indonésienne, la GTLeste Biotech, est en gestation depuis le mois de mars. Il est question d'un bail de location – renouvelable – de cinquante ans pour 100 000 hectares de terre destinés à la production de canne à sucre.

K S Oils, one of India’s leading integrated edible oil food companies Wednesday announced further acquisition of 53,000 acres of land for palm oil plantations in Indonesia. This brings the company’s land bank in Indonesia to 1,38,000 acres [56,000 ha], the largest owned by any Indian company.

Several companies like Mitsubishi Corporation are interested in promoting Merauke as a new rice barn in Asia.

The government is preparing a regulation which will put some restrictions on foreign investment in the food industry, including on the length of the investment, and the joint ownership with local firms.

“Our people have already surveyed several areas to choose the right place for planting basmati rice. The investment will be huge,” says Ambassador Khayyat.

The Korea Rural Community Corporation, under the Agriculture Ministry, said it is also in talks with other resource-rich countries about deals in exchange for support for the construction of agricultural infrastructure or farms. Among the negotiating partners mentioned were Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Senegal and Mongolia.

Saudi Arabia announces the launch of Agroinvest, which will focus on farm acquisitions abroad to grow wheat, rice, soybeans and other crops in Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan and Turkey

Ray White Rural chairman Paul White said there was interest in Australian rural property from Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian investment groups, looking to secure their food supply for the future.

Will Malaysia be emulating other nations by looking abroad to plant staple crops like rice, or rear cows, goats, chicken and fish to secure a sustainable food supply?