PALMOILMAGAZINE, PONTIANAK – During the Welcome Dinner at the 2nd Integrated Cattle and Oil-Palm Production (ICOP) Conference 2024, Heronimus Hero, the Head of the Livestock and Plantation Agency in West Kalimantan Province, emphasized the significance of the integrated program involving plantations and livestock. He considered this initiative to be a groundbreaking solution not only for West Kalimantan Province but also for the entire nation of Indonesia.
Hero expressed his belief that the people of Indonesia have a fondness for and consume cattle, yet the current supply falls short of meeting national demands. According to the official statement, he highlighted the substantial gap between the annual cattle needs in Indonesia, estimated at around 700 thousand tons, and the existing supply, which ranges between 300 thousand to 400 thousand tons annually. This imbalance poses a significant national-level challenge, particularly in West Kalimantan.
“The cattle supply in West Kalimantan Province reached about 15 thousand tons but the realization just reached 30% of the numbers or about 4.000 tons per year,” he said to Palmoilmagazine.com, Sunday (28/1/2024).
That is why for having palm oil plantation concession that laid about 3 million hectares, 300 – 500 thousand hectares were cultivated by smallholders, West Kalimantan has the big potential to implement palm oil – cow integrated program.
Heronimus also mentioned that natural resources in the province particularly palm oil plantation would be the direct answer to breed cows.
Until now, he continued, West Kalimantan has about 126 thousand cows and about 30% of the numbers should be slaughtered for local consumption. The government should import frozen meat including cattle and buffalo.
Sistim integrase sapi kelapa sawit (SISKA) would be the good idea to get support from West Kalimantan Province to establish SISKA clusters in some locations.
He also told there have been two thousand cows in SISKA program and it is hoped to develop more in this very short which means, the program would be the potential solution to escalate cattle supplies locally, support food security, and sustainable create business models. (T2)
