Monetary crisis kills most small poultry farms

JAKARTA (JP): A sharp rise in feedmeal prices over the past several months has forced most small and medium poultry farms out of businesses, an official says.

Director General of Animal Husbandry Erwin Soetirto said that the increased prices, triggered by the currency crisis, had significantly reduced poultry farmers' income because it was not followed by a rise in the price of eggs and meat.

"The price of ready-to-use fodder today is Rp 1,500. It was Rp 1,300 per kilogram on Dec. 25. In some parts of Central Java it is as much as Rp 1,800 per kg. This has never happened before," Erwin said.

He said the price increase was aggravated by the severe drought caused by the El Nio weather pattern.

Fodder was scarce and expensive because of the drought, he said.

He said the feedmeal price increase was caused by price increases in the raw materials, such as corn, wheat pollard, fish powder and premix concentrate.

He said the price of premix concentrate, a protein-rich mixture of materials which makes up between 30 percent and 35 percent of the fodder, had jumped 53.16 percent to Rp 5,514 per kilogram from Rp 3,600 in January last year.

He said corn, -- which makes up over 40 percent of the fodder -- presently cost poultry farmers about Rp 600 (12 U.S. cents), per kilogram an increase of 23.96 percent from its prices last January. It was only Rp 425 in August.

He said fish powder prices rose 54.66 percent over January last year to Rp 2,900, and wheat pollard was now Rp 350, 16.66 percent more than last January.

Rice shiftings -- another feedmeal ingredient -- have increased 65.38 percent to Rp 430, he said.

"This situation has threatened many farmers. About 80 percent of them are facing bankruptcy because they do not have good ties with big companies," he said, adding that fodder for small farmers involved in the partnership program would be supplied by their big partners.

But he declined to give a further details about the number of bankrupt businesses.

"Bankruptcy is only a matter of time for them," he said adding that feed price increases had exceeded any profit the farmers could make from egg and meat sales.

Antara reported last month that a lot of cattle had died of starvation in East Timor due to the fodder shortage.

In Tasikmalaya, West Java, many chickens died because they were only given rice shiftings to eat by the farmers, the news agency said.

Erwin said many farmers had reported a downturn in the price of chicken meat and day-old-chickens (DOC) by about 30 percent while demand was sluggish due to the general decline of purchasing power.

"The sluggish demand has forced egg farmers to sell their DOC at Rp 200 each."

He said that the drop in demand and the prolonged drought had resulted in a drop in the production of DOC by 40 percent from an earlier figure of 15,000 tons per week.

Indonesia's fodder production is 4.5 million tons a year.

"I estimate our that fodder stock is only sufficient for 1.5 months," he said.

Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said the ministry was making an effort to overcome the problem.

"We should help farmers, especially the egg farmers, because it is a labor intensive business and therefore absorbs workers. One worker is needed for every 2,000 chickens," he said.

He said the ministry was to hold a meeting with all parties involved in feed production Wednesday to solve the problem. (gis)