JAKARTA, Oct 7 — Indonesia will “open new plantations” for sugarcane used in bioethanol production, the government said, even as it announced a halt to deforestation for rice paddy expansion.

The government said last month it would increase the ethanol component of biofuel used for transport from 5 to 20 per cent (E20) in a bid to reduce reliance on imports of increasingly expensive petroleum products.

To achieve this goal, the country would need about four million kilolitres of ethanol per year, according to the energy ministry — many times what it produces today.

New sugar cane plantations were therefore needed, said Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan yesterday.

“E20 can be (sourced) from sugar cane, cassava, and others... If we want sugarcane, we have to open new plantations,” Zulkifli was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

Last month, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said the government wanted to develop about a million hectares for sugar cane production.

“The most important is sugar cane. We need one million hectares,” Andi said.

He added the government would seek to convert already degraded land before moving into forested areas, but did not rule it out.

Zulkifli’s comments came on the same day climate envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo said Indonesia will halt its programme to clear millions of hectares of land for rice production, having already achieved self-sufficiency levels of the staple grain.

More than 50,000 hectares of rainforest, savannah, peat swamp and wetlands had been cleared for sugar cane and rice since 2024, according to the NGO Mighty Earth.

Indonesia is one of the world’s most forested countries, and as such a major absorber of planet-warming carbon emissions from mankind’s burning of fossil fuel.

It aims to become a net carbon sink by 2030, with forests and other land use absorbing more carbon than they emit.

However, observers have said continuing forest destruction for agriculture and logging, as well as rampant wildfires, could put Indonesia’s plans at risk.

The country of nearly 290 million people has long been blending palm oil to create biodiesel, and is working to increase the concentration.

Indonesia is one of the world’s top palm oil producers, mostly on land that used to be forested. — AFP