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.
The policy to create self-sufficiency in food deserved support because it would empower farmers and cattle breeders in the production food and meat needed at home.
"It is confusing now because the theme of his program was self-sufficiency, but all of a sudden his policy¿s focus has shifted to imports," Fadly, who is a politician from the United Development Party (PPP), said.
Earlier, Fadly said, the policy of importing cows was not wrong, as far as it was supported with clear reasons and calculations, taking into account the condition and level of domestic needs.
However, with the high percentage of import planned by the Ministry of Agriculture, the fate of national breeders could be impacted.
"What have the minister and the government done so far if it turns out that our market will be flooded by imported goods?" the lawmaker questioned.
The Ministry of Agriculture, he said, should have accurate calculated the needs, stocks, rice fields and possible failure of harvests.
After carrying out calculations by taking all of these factors into account, the Ministry of Agriculture can decide and adopt a follow-up policy, including the possibility of importing the needed commodities.
Institutionally, Commission IV of the House has not obtained calculations from the government on the conditions, which require the importation of cattle.
"We have not received any calculations on it. We will meet the government later," noted Fadly.
Earlier, the government through the Ministry of Agriculture had decided to import cows to meet the need for meat at home in 2016.
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Hary Priyono said Indonesia would import 600 thousand head of cattle in 2016.
The government will carry out the importation because the domestic need for beef touching 675 thousand tons, while stocks at the Ministry of Agriculture and state logistics board Bulog are estimated to be 416 thousand tons only. Thus, Indonesia needs to import some 238 thousand tons or about 600 thousand head of cattle in 2016.
Agriculture Minister Andi Arman Sulaiman said on Monday the government will still import live cows in 2016 to meet domestic requirement. He gave no detail, including number of cows to be imported, but he said "we will import breeder cows that could give birth 10-12 times."
However, Secretary General Hary Priyono said the country would import around 600,000 cows in 2016 to meet domestic consumption of 675,000 tons of beef.
The ministry and the Board of Logistics have only a stock of 416,000 tons, therefore, the country would need to import 600,000 cows equivalent to 236,000 tons, he said.
He said there are many cow production centers in the country like East Nusa Tenggara, but buyers prefer to imports because of difficult access to the the centers.
Virtually, 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 heads in 2012 to 14.2 million, clearly inadequate to meet the domestic need for meat, pegged at about 550 thousand tons per annum at that time.
Till now, 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.
After all, cattle need 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 (Dec . 3, 2015) 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.
He said that in order to produce one cow -- beginning from a heifer's pregnancy, the birth of a calf until the calf grows to a weight of about 370 kilogram and is ready for slaughter-- involved Rp17 million in costs
The Director General of Animal Husbandry and Animal Health of the Agriculture Ministry, Muladno Basar, said that as of now, there are only five cattle breeding companies in Indonesia. One of these is PT Santori.
Head of Breeding Division PT Santori Dayan Antoni said 1,000 breeder cows were imported in 2015. These will be used to increase the country's breeding capacity, especially in case of 'wagyu' cow species which had been bred since 2012.
In an effort to increase the population of cattle in the country, the central government has promoted the development of a model of small scale livestock farm center (SPR).
According to Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman , the central government has set aside Rp500 billion for the development of SPRs all over Indonesia.
"An SPR would need at least 1,000 productive cow breeders," the minister said during a visit to Lampung province in November last year.
The SPRs are expected to increase the population of cows in the country.***3***
A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/A. Abdussalam) 07-01-2016 20:51:2 |
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