September 15, 2011

Indonesia to raise dairy cow population

In order to meet demand, Jakarta government has aimed to increase the number of dairy cows from 500,000 to two million.

The Agriculture Ministry's livestock director-general Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso, said that in relation to management, they must improve their cattle production.

The low production of fresh milk has led to a dependency on imported products. As much as 75% of fresh milk demand for the local industry is supplied by Australia, New Zealand, the US and the EU.

Teguh Boediyana, the Indonesian Cattle and Water Buffalo Breeders Association chairman said that national fresh milk production totalled two million litres per day. However, only 1,600 litres are absorbed by the industry because the milk quality has been deemed below standard.

The condition decreases milk prices at the farmers' level, which is unjustly decided by the industry. At present, farmers buy fresh milk at US$0.43 per litre from the previous US$0.42 per litre.