ACEH POISED TO BECOME CATTLE PRODUCTION CENTER

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 13 (Antara) - The government is intensively promoting local breeding to increase cattle production in the country and to reduce imports, which still account for about 38 percent of the total need of about 4 million live cows.          In a bid to reduce imports, the government, through the Agriculture Ministry, is developing a Mandatory Special Artificial Insemination Breeding Program (Upsus SIWAB) 2017 across the country.         Aceh Province, in the westernmost tip of Sumatra, is one of the potential regions to carry out the Upsus SIWAB program.          The Ministry of Agriculture has said that it will continue to increase cattle population in Aceh through the SIWAB program, so that the province will become one of the cattle production centers in the archipelago.          "Currently, we are developing the Upsus SIWAB program. Through the program, we can increase the number of calves in order to increase the population of cattle, both in Aceh and other regions, throughout the country," environment expert staff of the Agriculture Ministry, Mukti Sardjono, stated in Blangpidie, Southwest Aceh District (Abdya), on Monday (Sept 11) .          Sardjono came to Abdya in order to attend the vaccination of cattle against Septicaemia Epizootica (SE) disease that was prevalent in the district. At the same time, he reviewed the development of the Upsus SIWAB program there.

GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO REVISE BEEF IMPORT POLICY

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 24 (Antara) - In its efforts to build the country's food resilience, including in cattle, the government needs to revise its policy on importing beef and develop a domestic breeding program and feedlot businesses.         Hence, Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Regional Representative Nono Sampono urged the government to change its trade policy and reduce beef imports.          "The government should advance domestic cattle farming and feedlot endeavors in several regions," Sampono noted while inspecting several abattoirs in Cakung, East Jakarta, on Friday (June 23).          Indonesia has the potential to boost cattle breeding and to realize food resilience in the cattle breeding sector, so it would no longer need to import beef. With its large geographic spaces, the country should not depend on meat imports that could lead to shortage in the market when there are distribution obstacles.          Moreover, beef stocks are still readied based on the volume of market demand, according to slaughter house PD Dharma Jaya. Cattle slaughtered at the PD Dharma Jaya abattoir came from East Nusa Tenggara Province but to meet the domestic market demand, the company also imported beef from Australia.

CATTLE IMPORTS MUST INCLUDE HEIFERS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 28 (Antara) - In its efforts to encourage cattle production at home and reduce imports which last year still reached 36 percent of domestic needs, the government requires importers to include heifers in their feedlot cow imports.        The Trade Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry will soon draft a technical guidance for the cattle importation scheme which requires the inclusion of mother cows. The government will audit the number of heifers included in the importation of feedlot cattle at the end of 2018.         "At the end of 2018, the number of heifers that companies have imported would be audited. It should reach 20 percent of their total imports. If importers are allowed to import 123,800 feedlot cows at the end of this year, there should be between 24,000 and 26,000 heifers at the end of 2018," Director General for Internal Trade of the Ministry of Trade Oke Nurwan, said in Jakarta Friday.         At home there are now 32 feedlot companies -- or about 75 percent of all feedlot firms which had the commitment to import cattle based on the Agriculture Minister's Regulation No.49/2016, Director General of External Trade of the Ministry of Trade Dody Edward said on the occasion.

CATTLE BREEDERS TO RECEIVE FREE ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION KITS

By Andi Abdusslam

Jakarta, Oct 8 (Antara) - Indonesia's cattle production is not yet enough to meet the domestic need of beef, making it necessary to import cattle meat even as efforts are on to improve livestock farming at home.          In a bid to speed up beef self-reliance, the Ministry of Agriculture will provide four million artificial insemination kits free of charge to breeders across the country.          Indonesia still needs to import one million heads of cows this year to meet the domestic need for beef.  The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Trade, therefore, require importers to include heifers while importing feedlot cattle.     "We hope that some 20 percent of the 700 thousand imported feedlot cattle are heifers," Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said in Yogyakarta on Thursday (Oct 6).           To expedite cattle production, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Trade have made it obligatory for importers to include mother cows in their feedlot cattle imports.           The government expects that this will enable breeders to earn an income while waiting for the result of the artificial insemination program. Besides, the government is also preparing a plan to grant licenses for cooperatives to import feedlot cattle.

GOVT'S CATTLE IMPORTS MUST NOT HARM LOCAL BREEDERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 7 (Antara) - A legislator has asked the government to explain its plan to import 600 thousand cattle this year as it is feared this will harm the interest of local breeders.          Legislator Fadly Nurzal of Commission IV on agricultural affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR) said he was surprised to learn the plan of the Ministry of Agriculture to import cows.          The legislator has been vocal about the issue, saying that before deciding to import cattle, the government should make careful calculations on the domestic need for meat, production at home and the present stock available in an effort to protect the interest of cattle farmers at home.          The Indonesian government has decided to carry out the importation because the domestic demand for beef has reached 675 thousand tons, while the stock at the Ministry of Agriculture and state logistics board Bulog is estimated to be 416 thousand tons only.          Thus, Indonesia needs to import at least 238 thousand tons beef or about 600 thousand live of cattle in 2016.          Fadly said his Commission supported the appointment of Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman because at the beginning of his term the theme of his program was to promote food self-sufficiency.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN BEEF PRODUCTION STILL A DREAM

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 4 (Antara) - Indonesia has been making efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in meat production for the past several years but that dream has not yet come true due to several factors.          The previous government under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had set a target for Indonesia to become self-sufficient in meat production by 2014.          However, by October 2013, cattle population had plunged from 16.4 million in 2012 to 14.2 million, clearly inadequate to meet the domestic need for meat, pegged at about 550 thousand tons per annum.          Till date, Indonesia has to import meat or cattle to meet its domestic needs. The meat sector has been witnessing a trend to rather import the commodity instead of breeding cows at home.          Cattle needs two and a half to three years before it could be slaughtered or sold.          The head of the Breeding Division of PT Santori, Dayan Antoni, said in Lampung Province on Thursday that businesses take less interest in breeding cattle due to the high cost and the risks involved. From their point of view, it takes a long time before the cattle could yield economic benefit.

LOCAL CATTLE ENOUGH TO MEET DEMAND FOR SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 16 (Antara) - Indonesian Muslims who comprise about 90 percent of the country's 250 million population will observe the Islamic holiday of Eid Adha next week and will slaughter sacrificial animals as part of the religious rituals.          The Ministry of Agriculture said there was no need to import cattle to be used as sacrificial animals as local breeders could meet the demand.          An expert working with the Investment Affairs Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Syukur Iwantoro, said on Tuesday that 28,000 heads of cattle have been made available so far by local breeders in Jakarta to be used as sacrificial animals.         "There is adequate stock of local cows. We may even have a surplus situation," he said during a meeting on stock and price of beef, convened by the state logistics board, Bulog. The cattle stock is available in West Java, Central Java and East Java.

GOOD INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO IMPROVE DISTRIBUTION OF BEEF

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 15 (Antara) -- As production centers lack infrastructure to distribute the commodity to consumers, the price of beef has soared in the country.         Making improvements to infrastructure and ensuring proper management of the system used in the beef business can help regulate the price of beef to a fair level. Therefore, the government needs to improve infrastructure facilities and the management of the beef business, according to a legislator.         "These efforts are needed to ensure smoother and more efficient distribution of meat from production centers to consumers," Rofi Munawar, a member of Commission IV, which oversees agricultural affairs, of the House of Representatives, said here on Saturday.          If the government can improve the distribution and management system, he added, consumers will enjoy beef at a reasonable price, while cattle farmers will also earn great profit.          Munawar, who is a politician of the Prosperous Justice Party, explained that the scarcity of meat in the market of late was caused by imbalances between supply and demand from consumers.

INDONESIA TO IMPORT CATTLE TO OVERCOME BEEF SHORTAGE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 11 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has decided to import 50 thousand heads of cattle and to conduct market operations as a short-term solution to overcome the current shortage of beef in various regions.         "During a coordination meeting, the government has decided to import cattle and conduct market operations to provide a short-term solution to the scarcity of meat in the market. The market operations will be conducted by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)," Chief Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil stated on Monday.          For this purpose, the government will issue a permit to Bulog to import 50 thousand slaughter cattle.          "This is a very short-term policy. A mid-term policy until the end of the year should first be reported to the president," Djalil remarked during a joint press conference with Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel and Bulog President Director Djarot Kusumayakti.          He noted that the imported cattle would be slaughtered once they arrive in the country to meet the public's beef requirement. The government also hoped that the feedlot farmers would also release their cattle, so that the meat traders would return to their regular activities again.

SOME 170,000 SLAUGHTER COWS PREPARED FOR RAMADAN NEEDS

By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, June 28 (Antara) - The government is preparing some 170 thousand heads of cattle, to meet the demand for meat during the fasting month of Ramadan and the post-fasting Idul Fitri or Lebaran festivities.          Besides, the government is also planning to increase the beef reference price from the current Rp76,000 per kg to Rp85,000 per kg, in an effort to help cattle farmers obtain incentives, so that they can raise pedigree and feedlot cows.          However, in anticipation of the fasting month of Ramadan, the price of meat has been increasing and is expected to reach between Rp100 thousand and Rp130 thousands per kg in a number of provinces. Though, in several other regions, the price of beef is reportedly still stable.          Therefore, the government is preparing about 170 thousands of cattle to meet the need for beef during the fasting month which begins on Sunday, June 29, 2014 (the country's second largest Muslim organization has started fasting on Saturday, June 28).          Agriculture Minister Suswono, during a visit to West Java on Wednesday, expressed his confidence that the need for meat during the fasting month would be met. With a stock of 170,000 heads of cows, supplies of meat during the fasting month and the Lebaran festivities will be adequate.

GOVT URGED TO STOP CATTLE IMPORTS FROM AUSTRALIA

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 22 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has been urged to end cattle imports from Australia, worth $12 billion annually, due to allegations that Australian intelligence agencies intercepted phone conversations of Indonesian officials.          "It is better for the government to stop its livestock imports from Australia as part of its protest against Australia's alleged wiretapping of phones of the Indonesian President and other senior state officials," Muhamad Azhari, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission VI on trade affairs, said here on Friday.           Tensions between Indonesia and Australia increased after media reports that Australian intelligence agencies had wiretapped the private phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other senior officials.           As part of Indonesia's response, the President has ordered a halt to joint military exercises by both nations. President Yudhoyono has also temporarily suspended cooperation with Australia in a number of other fields, such as intelligence exchanges and military operations in the area of human trafficking, until an explanation is offered about the wiretapping.          It has also been reported that the Ministry of Trade is considering reviewing trade cooperation with Australia.

RI UNLIKELY TO ACHIEVE MEAT SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN 2014

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 26 (Antara) - With its cattle population dropping this year, Indonesia, which consumes about 550 thousand tons of meat per year, seems unlikely to meet its meat self-sufficient production target in 2014.          "Seeing its cattle population decline now, it seems that Indonesia will face difficulties in meeting its meat self-sufficiency target in the near future. The government still needs at least five more years to bring the target into reality," Bustanul Arifin, agriculture and animal husbandry observer, said on Thursday.          In the past several years, the government, through the Directorate General of Animal Husbandry, set a target that in 2014 Indonesia should have been able to produce meat that met its domestic needs.          However, Indonesia's cattle population this year is believed to be lower than in 2012, which stood at about 16.4 million. As of October this year, Indonesia's cattle population dropped to 14.2 million.

RI EXPECTED TO RAISE BEEF IMPORT QUOTAS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Dec 8 (ANTARA) - As national meat stocks continue to fall short, the government has called on importers to import meat based on their respective quotas, hoping that next year's quota of 80,000 tons would be increased to 100,000 tonnes.          Coordinating Minister For Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa made the appeal after he learned that the shortage of stocks was caused by importers not yet importing enough meat, based on their given quotas.          "We have calculated the need for national stocks and ordered meat based upon beef import allocations, but shortages still exist because importers have not yet imported meat based upon their quotas. So, we call on them to carry out the imports immediately," said Hatta at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, last week.          He warned importers who had obtained licenses for the importation of beef to carry out their obligations immediately, saying importers should take his appeal seriously.