Indonesia so far still needs to import 1.2 million tons of soybeans annually to meet the domestic demand of some 2 million tons, an official said.

The country produces only 0.8 million tons of soybean a year now while annual domestic demand totals 2 million tons, Antara news agency on Sunday quoted Mukhlizar Mulkan, the Agriculture Ministry's director for bean and tuber affairs, as saying.

The only way to reduce Indonesia's dependence on soybean imports was to intensify its food self-sufficiency program, he said.

The central government in 1995 chose Jambi province as the location of a national soybean intensification project, which has a production of 14,966 tons of soybeans a year now, he said.

Jambi would be the location for the so-called "Sumatra soybeans belt" funded through the state budget, Mukhlizar said.

Source: Xinhua