RI to import more Australian cattle

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will import 170,000 head of cattle from Australia this year, representing an increase of 38 percent, an official said yesterday.

"As we cannot yet fulfill our domestic need for meat, we are importing more cattle this year," Director General of Husbandry at the Ministry of Agriculture Soehadji told reporters after the opening of the fourth annual meeting of the Working Group on Agriculture and Food Cooperation at the Shangri-La Hotel here.

Domestic demand for meat currently stand at 381,000 tons annually. Of the total demand, domestic husbandry is able to supply 1.5 million cows, equivalent to 314,000 tons of meat.

Soehadji said the imported cattle, which are to be fattened before being slaughtered, are to meet the imbalance between local supply and demand.

"The demand for meat increases every year, keeping pace with the people's increasing welfare," Soehadji said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah said in his speech at the opening ceremony that, while the per-capita consumption of rice was decreasing, consumption of high-protein foods was tending to increase.

Soehadji said the 381,000 tons of meat only account for 24 percent of the country's total annual animal protein intake. He said the largest animal protein contributor was poultry, at 53 percent; followed by pork, at 10 percent; goat, at five percent; and buffalo, at four percent.

The working group was formed by Indonesia and Australia in 1992, with the aim of exploring investment opportunities in the agricultural sector and promoting bilateral trade in agricultural products. (rid)