Cattle industry declining in E. Nusa Tenggara
By Yemris Fointuna
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): East Nusa Tenggara has been known for some time as a major cattle supplier in the country.
The dry, hot and infertile East Nusa Tenggara landscape, with an annual rainfall of only 4 centimeters, consists mostly of hilly terrain.
The majority of people in East Nusa Tenggara live in villages working as traditional cattle breeders passing on their knowledge from generation to generation.
But the province's potential has slowly reduced, with the quality of livestock declining partly due to neglect, misdirected policies or just plain ignorance on the part of the locals who cling to their traditional ways without embracing new methods which could enhance productivity.
Traditional cattle breeding remains untouched by innovation and modern technology.
Agricultural counseling officials have complained about their inability to introduce new technology to villagers in the region.
"People in the villages prefer natural insemination to artificial insemination and favor tending their cattle in the fields rather than keeping and feeding their cattle in stalls," said Melki Baok, a cattle breeder in Kupang.
The position of cattle breeders in the province has come under threat, especially from Bali cows and Ongole cows which are popular because they are known for having lean flesh.
The fear is that the Timor and Sumba islands will, in the next decade slowly lose their market share to provide quality calves.
The head of East Nusa Tenggara's Animal Husbandry Office, M. Littik, said one of the drawbacks in getting quality livestock is that the best cattle are often slaughtered as part of an obligatory traditional rite.
He added that the narrowing meadow fields for grazing due to the opening of new settlement sites and the expansion of industrial locations were other factors hampering the growth of cattle breeding in the region.
Based on the result of a livestock population census carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of beef cattle in East Nusa Tenggara has gone down from 726,439 a few years earlier to 486,323 in 2000.
Chris M. Pellokila, dean of the Animal Husbandry Faculty at the Kupang-based Nusa Cendana University also said that a survey showed an annual decline in growth rate of 2.24 percent in the number of cattle.
To remedy the shortage of high-quality beef cattle, the West Sumba district administration plans to import 1,000 head of Brahman cows from Australia in a bid to enhance the genetic quality of beef cattle and to increase the population, production and productivity.
Apart from local breeders' reluctance to accept innovation, many claim that the deceasing number of cattle is also attributable to the regional administration's policy which is focused on meeting immediate regional income targets.
The regional administration has encouraged the supply of beef cattle with a minimal weight of 300 kilograms to be slaughtered in other regions in the country.
This policy has had a negative effect as these cattle comprise of parent stock.
Thus only low-quality cattle remain.
The government's lack of control of interisland cattle trade has further compounded the problem as nonindigenous businessmen have come in to buy up the stock.
Based on data on the performance of 24 cattle trading companies presented by the Kupang chapter of the Indonesian Association of Cattle Traders (PPHI), almost all local traders are serving brokers for companies outside the province.
The involvement of financially strong businessmen from outside the province has disrupted the natural cycle of the traditional cattle trading which has so far sustained cattle breeding in the province.
According to local cattle trader Tonci Foni, these big businesses have all but monopolized cattle trading in the province.
They usurp the best stock without encouraging local breeders to seek new stocks so as to guarantee sustainable supply.