Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will impose stricter conditions on import of productive female cows from Australia and New Zealand to reduce the risk of getting castoffs or low quality cows, an agriculture ministry official said here on Wednesday.
The director of public veterinary health, Turni Rusli Syamsuddin, said there had been many cases in which cows imported were found to be castoffs or old and unproductive so that caring for them would be unprofitable.
"There have so far been cases of imported cows found to be unproductive and giving birth only once," she said.
In view of that she called on importers to carefully check the conditions of female cows to be imported. "The control of female cow imports is in the hands of importers," she said.
Turni said the government urged an increased control so that the self-sufficiency program in meat supply could be met.
A House Commission IV member, Siswono Yudhohusodo, shared the view saying that female cows imported so far from Australia had been engineered so that they could only give birth only once.
As a result Indonesia could not conduct breeding to obtain quality cattle and has to import slaughter cows.
Siswono who is former chief of the Association of Indonesian Farmers said breeding business did not attract much in Indonesia because it give small profit compared to fattening business although breeding was the key to self-sufficiency in supply set by the government to be achieved in 2014.
In view of that Siswono appealed to the government to provide incentives to attract people to breeding business, such as a free of charge artificial insemination service.
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