Indolivestock Expo: The Importance of Empowering Local Resources
Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) participated in the Indo Livestock Expo and Forum at the JCC Jakarta, Wednesday (4/7). In the exhibition held for the seventh time, IPB raised the theme "Empowering Local Resources for Sustainable Animal Production, Animal Health and Animal Welfare".
In order to provide knowledge for visitors about the educational activities and research in IPB, every day the IPB stand held a demonstration of a variety of products, for example Subclinical Mastitis Diagnostic by Prof. Dr. drh. Mirnawati Sudarwanto, Quick Test of Bird Flu on Poultry by Prof. Dr. drh. Retno D Soejoedono, Semen Quality Tests in Cattle by Prof. Dr. Dra. Iis Arifianti, and Reproductive Biotechnology on Animal by drh. Makh. Fahrudin.
In his welcoming speech delivered by the Executive Officer of Director General of Agricultural Product Processing and Marketing (P2HP), Ministry of Agriculture, Banun Harpini, when opening the exhibition, said that the Ministry of Agriculture guarantees the safe supply of basic food and meat for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 2012
As for the increased prices of basic commodities in the market that is currently in the range of two percent, he considers it still within reasonable limits. "The price increase is still within reasonable limits, in which the rate of price increase is below two percent. Indeed there are some price increases for basic commodities for psychological reasons approaching Ramadan month. There is little rise in the price of garlic, pepper, and eggs," said Banun.
To ensure the availability of meat during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, the government has rescheduled the imported beef quota for the third and fourth quarter of this year drawn to July in anticipation of the scarcity of meat on the Major Holiday. Banun adds that a number of other food commodities are expected to rise in price approaching the fasting months, for example garlic and chili. But the rise in prices of some food commodities by the fasting month is still relatively reasonable as a result of the psychological impact of the growing demand in the community.
According to him, the government will continue to evaluate the supply and prices of food before the Major Holiday. So far, there’s nothing to worry concerning the food supply. Earlier this week the National Bureau of Statistics announced in June the inflation rate of 0.62 percent. This inflation was driven by the rising food prices, such as red peppers, garlic, and chicken meat.
Meanwhile with regard to the low consumption of meat in the country, Banun says, the consumption of animal protein among Indonesia people such as chicken, beef, eggs, milk and others is still relatively low. "Therefore, it is necessary to boost the consumption of animal protein because it will also encourage additional production," he said.
Current consumption of chicken meat per capita in Indonesia is as much as 7 kg / year, which is lower than that of Malaysia, which has reached 36 kg / capita / year. Similarly, the consumption of eggs in the country today is 80 eggs / capita / year, still below that of Malaysia, reaching 311 eggs / capita / year. (Mtd)
