Afternoon Dialogue: Census for Cattle should be Held Rapidly and Simultaneously
Some constraints for the government’s efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in meat in 2014 is the correct data on the total number of livestock population in Indonesia. Accordingly, the government has implemented census for livestock. But, whether the data collected are valid and accurate, they have to be evaluated.
This was stated by drh. Rahmat Hidayat, M. Si, Secretary of the Center for Tropical Veterinary Studies (CENTRAS) LPPM IPB who was invited as the guest speaker in the afternoon Dialogue of RRI Bogor, 14 June 2011. According to him, livestock census should be conducted rapidly and simultaneously throughout Indonesia. "The moving of livestock from one area to another is very quickly, so that the livestock census should also be done quickly and simultaneously. This is to minimize the manipulation of data, "he said.
Drh. Rahmat stated the coordination between central and local governments is still weak in the field. Instead of assisting the officers for the successful implementation of the census, it give the community the impression that the meat self-sufficiency program is a program of the central government only. Momentum, Australia’s policy on termination of beef exports to Indonesia, should be considered to be the dream to improve coordination between local and central government to succeed the meat self-sufficiency.
In addition, check-up for animal health s should be implemented every day, as some diseases might develop into the fatal diseases within 24 hours.
In the mean time, Dr. Suryahadi, Head of CENTRAS LPPM IPB stated things that may help the successful implementation of self-sufficiency in meat program. For example, efficience in livestock feeding. Farmers should be provided with a subsidized local standard feeds. Currently, animal feed is expensive. A lot of abandoned lands should be utilized to feed livestock, but ranchers plagued by transportation costs. If the government agreed to provide standardized and nutritious feeds, farmers won’t be burdened with transportation costs.
"In addition, cattle are relatively manageable, we only need to monitor flow in and out of livestock. We should also to keep a good cooperation with Sloughter House (RPH) to recognize the illegal cattle and give punishment for the violators, "he added. (Wied).
