"I doubt if we can reach self-sufficiency in such a short time," Budi Tangendjaja, technical manager of the Jakarta branch of the American Soybean Association (ASA), told Reuters.

"There is a lack of disease-resistant seeds and soybean is a sub-tropical crop. There is also an obstacle in finding the right soil. Most Indonesian soil is acid while soybeans are happy to grow in alkaline soil," he said at the sidelines of a workshop on US corn and soy importers.

ASA is a non-profit organisation which promotes the use of US soybeans. The United States is the world's top soybeans exporter.

Last year, Indonesia launched a programme to boost self-sufficiency in soybeans through expanding plantation areas by up to 500,000 to 600,000 hectares.

Farmers were also asked to addcalcium to soil to boost growth of soybeans, used in the world's fourth most populous country to make tofu and tempe snacks and soy ketchup.

Industry sources say many Indonesians shifted to tofu and tempe from meat during the economic crisis.

Tangendjaja said the programme had yet to produce results, with exports this year expected to be higher than last year.

"We expect to import more than one million tonnes of soybean for human consumption this year. Last year's imports totalled 748,000 tonnes," he said.

"Soybean meal imports are expected to stand at between 500,000 and 600,000 tonnes this year...compared with more than one million tonnes before the economic crisis started (in 1997)," he added.

Tangendjaja said slow progress in achieving self-sufficiency was also because the country's growing consumption of soybeans was not being matched by output growth.

"We need so much...that's why I am in doubt if we can reach self-sufficiency. Soybeans demand for human consumption is already more than onemillion tonnes. Statistics show that local production is a mere 1.3 million tonnes," he said.

The Central Bureau of Statistics forecast soybean production declining 2.3 percent to 1.31 million tonnes in 1999, while the area under soybean production was expected to rise to 1.12 million hectares against 1.10 million hectares last year.

Tangendjaja said Indonesian scientists needed to do more work to create soybean varieties which could be grown anywhere in Indonesia.

"There are 26,000 soybean varieties in China...Using the existing technology, we should be able to do that. ``In the past, the United States did not even know anything about soybeans," said Tangendjaja. Indonesia has less than 10 soybeans varieties.

Soybeans are grown in Indonesia's Aceh and Lampung provinces on Sumatra, East and Central Java and the eastern province of West Nusatenggara.