INDONESIANS EAT TOO LITTLE CHICKEN MEAT

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 23 (ANTARA) - While the poultry industry in Indonesia is now able to meet the ideal need at home, people still eat too little chicken meat and eggs so that the government and  industry should jointly  promote consumption of the two commodities.          Last week,  poultry industry players, in support of the government, held a chicken and egg festival at the East Parking Lot of the Senayan Sports Complex, to help promote chicken and egg consumption among the people.          After all,  the government has set itself the target of doubling the people's chicken and egg consumption in the coming three years.          Agriculture Minister Suswono said during the festival that the per capita consumption of the two commodities in Indonesia was still low, even lower than in other ASEAN member countries.          In Malaysia, he said, the per capita chicken consumption of the people was about three chickens per month while in Indonesia the people's per capita consumption was only 7.6 kg per annum or only about one chicken per four months.          The same  is true to the egg consumption. In Indonesia the per capita egg consumption of the people was recorded at one egg per week while in Malaysia the per capita egg consumption was noted at three per day.          "Therefore, in 2014, the chicken and egg consumption is expected to double  from the present level, namely to 2-3 eggs per week per person," he said on the sidelines of the festival.          The chicken and egg festival which was organized by 14 national poultry associations was intended to promote chicken and egg consumption among the people.          Suswono said in term of production Indonesia had actually now achieved self-sufficiency. Even, the poultry sector has contributed a lot to the national meat  need which accounted for 65 percent of the country's total meat consumption.          "What remains to be done now is to increase the people's chicken and egg consumption. To meet the people's need for proteins should not always come from cow meat but it could also be met with chicken and egg," the minister said.          The increase in the people's chicken and egg consumption will boost the demand for the commodities which will eventually also encourage the poultry business at home.          Chairman of the Indonesian Poultry Society Forum (FMPI) Don Utoyo,  said Indonesia's chicken production at present was recorded at about 1.6 million chickens, equal to 2.4 million tons of live chickens or about 1.7 million tons of carcass or 900 million kg of chicken meat.          The country's egg production in the meantime, was estimated at 1.4 million tons per annum.          Chicken and egg consumption in Indonesia is still low if compared with that in a number of ASEAN countries, Don Utoyo said. He said that Indonesia's per capita consumption of chickens was only 7 kg per annum while its per capita consumption of egg was only 80 per year.          In Thailand, the people's per capita consumption of chickens reached 16 kg per annum, in Singapore 28 kg and in Malaysia 36 kg, he said.          So is the case of egg consumption in those countries where people consumed eggs more than those consumed in Indonesia. The average per capita egg consumption in Thailand was 93 eggs per year, in China 304 eggs and Malaysia 311 eggs.          Chairman of the Chicken and Egg Festival Rakhmat Nuriyanto said the event   was intended to promote and increase the people's consumption of chickens and eggs.          He said that the people still lacked awareness of the importance of  consuming these commodities for the growth, health, intelligence of children and other family members.          "Therefore, the festival is mainly intended to popularize the importance of chicken and egg consumption among the people," he said.          The low chicken and egg consumption in Indonesia is partly due to wrong perception that consuming chickens and egg will increase cholesterol.  "The problem is that people are afraid of having high cholesterol or allergy if they consume too much eggs," Rachmat Nuryanto, chairman of the Indonesian Animal Drugs Association, said.          The people  still lacked information so that they had no complete knowledge about the benefit of consuming chickens and eggs. Many were not convinced with the nutritional content of the two commodities.         Negative campaigns aired by several societal groups that the injection of hormones into chickens was harmful also caused people to be scared of consuming chickens.          "They are afraid of cholesterol and bird flu so that they are reluctant to eat chickens and eggs while actually studies have shown  that what they fear is not true," Rachmat said.          Minister Suswono said that chicken and egg consumption was very important for improving the people's nutritional intake. People's consumption of the commodities only reached 5.72 grams, lower than the national nutritional standard of 6.5 grams per capita per year.          "The people's low consumption of chickens and eggs is because they lack knowledge,  they do not have the habit of eating it or they have low purchasing power," the minister said.          Suswono said that meat was a protein source which had high quality and children, as well as adults, needed to consume it because the amino acids contained in  meat could improve damaged cells in the body. The same is true of eggs which contain complete nutritions.          Actually, many people still are able to purchase these commodities. Compared with other sources of protein, eggs are relatively cheaper and have a higher protein content.          Data at the EMPI indicated that one kilogram of eggs valued at Rp13,500 contained 12.5 percent of proteins  while a  kg of chicken  with a price of  Rp25,000 contained  18.5 percent protein.          A portion of tofu with a price of Rp9,000 contains 7.4 percent proteins while fish with a price of Rp22,500 contains 15 percent proteins. A portion of Rp65,000 beef  contains 20 percent proteins.          Basically, the national chicken and egg industry is now able to meet the ideal need for chicken and eggs of the people.          "The national poultry and egg layer industry is already self-sufficient and is able to meet the people's need for animal proteins," FMPI chairman Don P Utoyo said.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/18:40/A014) 23-10-2011 18:49: