JAKARTA, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has been in talks with Vietnam and Thailand on the possibility of shipping rice from the countries as an effort to counter the impact of El Nino, a senior minister said here on Tuesday.
"We have been in talks with Vietnam and Thailand," Indonesian Economic Chief Minister Darmin Nasution said.
A final decision over the rice shipment will be made at the beginning of the next month, he said.
Moderate impact of El Nino has hit Indonesia since August and may end in December with the peak in September, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
El Nino has triggered drought and prolonged harvest as well as disturbed cultivation in paddy rice fields in Indonesia.
Indonesian Vice President Kalla has said the country's rice outputs may not be sufficient for the compliance of the demand of most of the country's 250 million populations.
Kalla argued that the country's rice stockpile is not sufficient to meet with rice demand of the population.
The Indonesian government has created artificial rains and distributed hundreds of pumps to water down some areas which have suffered from drought.
The prolonged dry season has caused over 200,000 hectares rice field across the country a lack of water and 30,000 hectares of which has failed in harvest, according to the agriculture ministry.
In 1998, El Nino attacked Indonesia with severe impact, pushing the government to import 5 million tons of food, said Kalla.
