Cattle industry declining in E. Nusa Tenggara

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.