Unhusked rice output in Indonesia will drop slightly to 54 million tonnes this year from 54.34 million in 2004, the agriculture minister said on Thursday, adding this would not be a big enough drop to lift a ban on rice imports. "If we can get 54 million, we will propose an extension for the ban on rice imports," minister Anton Apriyantono told reporters.

Other officials have said if production from the April harvest was enough, the ban would be extended to December from its original target of June 2005.

Rice is a staple food for Indonesia's 220 million people.

Milled rice output has been estimated to be 33.5-34 million tonnes this year, compared with estimated consumption of around 31 million tonnes.

Indonesia was self-sufficient in rice in the 1980s, but became an importer when millions of hectares of rice fields were converted into industrial parks and housing complexes.

Copyright Reuters, 2005