Jakarta (ANTARA) - Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman is seeking to step up efforts to secure the national supply of meat and milk by involving business players in the animal husbandry sector, especially cattle, goat, and sheep farmers.In a statement issued here on Thursday, the minister said that business players' participation, including in terms of regulation and legality, logistics infrastructure, and assistance, is vital for securing meat and milk supplies.
"We should make the legality process easier (to help) business players produce and make profits," he added.
The minister said that it is necessary to design integrated areas for creating efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly production systems. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister's expert staff for agricultural product downstreaming, Ali Agus, said that the government has the role of providing the best services to business players.
"They are food heroes who provide sources of animal proteins such as milk and meat. Our task is to turn the Agriculture Minister's directions into real forms, namely by providing the best services," he added.
Director general of animal husbandry and animal health at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nasrullah, expressed the hope that Indonesia would reach meat and milk self-sufficiency through strong collaboration and synergy among business players.
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He affirmed that the ministry's technical implementation units have been prepared to train officers to create human resources in the animal husbandry sector. ANTARA earlier reported that the Ministry of Agriculture is seeking to boost national milk production through measures such as encouraging the development of dairy goat farming businesses.
In Sleman, Yogyakarta, on June 29, 2024, Minister Sulaiman said that rearing dairy goats is an alternative that is suitable for development and has wide social acceptance. According to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the goat population in Indonesia currently stands at 18.5 million, with the number of dairy goats pegged at 3.3 million.
