Jakarta, March 5 - Indonesia expects higher output of its key agriculture commodities rubber, coffee and cocoa in 2008, an official said on Wednesday, due to good weather and higher prices, which have led to more intensive farming.
Indonesia's rubber output is expected to increase by 2.7 percent to 2.84 million tonnes this year from an estimated 2.76 million tonnes in 2007, said Ahmad Mangga Barani, director general of plantation crops at the agriculture ministry.
The increase in output is partly due to the fact that rubber trees which were planted a few years ago in a replanting programme have started to produce latex, and partly because farmers have increased tapping as prices for the commodity rose.
"Rubber is like an automatic teller machine (ATM) for farmers. When prices are high and they need money, they will tap more," Mangga Barani said.
Indonesia is the world's second-biggest natural rubber producer after Thailand. It accounts for nearly 30 percent of global natural rubber output, which last year amounted to 9.69 million tonnes, according to International Rubber Research Group.
Last week, Tokyo rubber futures touched the highest level since June 2006, bolstered by a rebound of crude oil above $100 a barrel after a brief retreat.
The August contract at that time hit a high of 324.3 yen per kg. The contract fell 3.7 yen to end the morning session at 303.4 yen.
Indonesia also expects its production of cocoa beans to increase by 2.2 percent this year to 796,982 tonnes thanks to good weather, Mangga Barani said.
"The weather was good last year. Cocoa trees had enough water. Hopefully, there won't be much rain as the trees are in flowering stage," he said. Heavy rains at this time of the year could damage the flowers, reducing the size of the crop.
Indonesia, the world's third-largest cocoa producer after Ivory Coast and Ghana, produced an estimated of 779,186 tonnes in 2007.
Cocoa futures on the New York Board of Trade hit a 28-year high on Tuesday. The May contract hit $2,845 a tonne, the highest since April 1980, but ended the day lower at $2,752 a tonne.
As the world's fourth-largest coffee producer, Indonesia expects output of coffee beans this year to reach 687,450 tonnes, up from 686,763 tonnes in 2007.
Mangga Barani said that of Indonesia's total coffee plantation area of 1.3 million hectares, about 95 percent is in smallholdings, making it more difficult to increase overall coffee production.
"If the coffee price rises, farmers go back to maintain their crop, but when the price falls, they abandon them," he said.
London robusta coffee futures ended at $2,752 a tonne on Tuesday, retreating from the 12.5-year high of $2,813 a tonne hit last week.
Robusta makes up about 85 percent of Indonesia's coffee output, while the rest is higher value, aromatic arabica beans.