Indonesia to shrink meat imports 10% per year

The government is trying to cut meat imports by 10% per year until the country achieves meat self-sufficiency in 2014, an Agriculture Ministry official said.

According to the ministry's director general of husbandry Tjeppy D. Soedjana, meat imports from a number of countries now account for 35-36% (of the domestic needs).

Soedjana said Indonesia was determined to reduce its dependence on imported meat through a program designed to achieve meat self-sufficiency in 2014. He said Indonesia's cattle imports dropped significantly to 450,000 heads in 2008 from 496,000 heads in 2007.

This year the country's population of beef cattle reached 11.8 million, 3.5 million of which was found in East Java, he said.

Additionally, the country's meat production was projected to reach 371,000 tonnes this year, or slight increase compared to 352,400 tonnes last year, he said.

He expressed hope the population of beef cattle would increase to 12-13 million by the end of this year.

"West Nusa Tenggara is one of the regions for the breeding of beef cattle to achieve meat self-sufficiency in 2014," he said.

Earlier, Australian live cattle exports to Indonesia during the first quarter of 2010 reached record levels, at 142,000 heads, as total exports to all markets increased 25% on-year, to 220,000 heads, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Along with Indonesia, shipments for the first three months of 2010 also increased with the reopening of Egypt, taking 16,000 heads.