Indonesia Needs Over 1 Million Dairy Cows to Achieve Milk Self-Sufficiency

The Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) has stated that Indonesia is currently striving to achieve self-sufficiency in milk production, sourced from both smallholder farmers and industrial producers.

Makmun, the Director of Livestock Downstreaming at the Ministry of Agriculture, noted that achieving this goal will be challenging, as the current dairy cow population in Indonesia falls short of the target required for self-sufficiency. He stated that the current population of dairy cows across Indonesia has only reached more than 540,000 head.

“If we look at our current dairy cow population, it is recorded at approximately 540,657 head, with more than 90% located in smallholder farms; industrial players do not hold a large number of dairy cows,” said Makmun during the Nusantara Milk Day event at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Food in Jakarta on Tuesday.

To achieve national milk self-sufficiency, Makmun continued, Indonesia requires a much larger dairy cow population, specifically at least 2 million cows distributed throughout the archipelago. Based on current conditions, Indonesia still needs at least an additional 1 million dairy cows to maximise milk production.

“Therefore, the target for self-sufficiency requires a population of approximately 2 million. Since we are currently at 540,000, we still need more than 1 million,” he explained.

Furthermore, the government is encouraging more farmers to engage in dairy cattle breeding. Makmun expressed hope that dairy farming would expand to every major island, noting that current efforts are heavily concentrated on Java, with only a small presence in Sumatra.

However, he acknowledged existing obstacles that deter farmers from pursuing dairy cattle breeding, including weak milk absorption by industries in several regions, particularly outside of Java.