JAKARTA - Indonesia's cocoa bean imports are seen rising 5% to 10% this year, from 238,377 tonnes in 2018, Indonesia Cocoa Association (INCA) said on Tuesday.

Indonesia is the world's No.3 cocoa grinder with 747,000 tonnes installed capacity, while utilizing only 56% of it.

"Import will keep rising if yield is still low, and I estimate import will still be huge for this year and next year because domestic production is still low," Arie Nauvel Iskandar, INCA chairman, told Reuters.

Indonesia cocoa beans production is seen rising to 260,000 tonnes in 2019 from 240,000 tonnes a year earlier on the back of programmes set up by the agriculture ministry.

Iskandar said the ministry will provide cocoa fertilizer for farmers as well as take measures to make good quality cocoa seedlings available to farmers.

Both the association and the government are working on an integrated cocoa roadmap.

(Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Editing by Himani Sarkar) ((tabita.diela@thomsonreuters.com; +622129927621;))