Poultryindonesia.com, TWENTY-seven of Indonesia’s thirty-three provinces have reported Avian Influenza cases. While the number of reported cases has declined significantly since the beginning of the outbreak in August 2003, and vaccination has reportedly been successful in curbing the disease in the largest integrators’ production and breeding facilities, the disease is proving almost impossible to eradicate from smaller production farms and back-yard flocks.

The challenges hindering effective control of the disease include: lack of consistent reporting, lax implementation of animal movement controls and other bio security measures, unregulated live bird markets, inadequate resources to conduct mass culling and purchase vaccines, and the prevalence of backyard chickens among other avian species. These conditions are likely to continue unabated through 2006, limiting potential for faster growth in output.

Chairman of Indonesian Poultry Breeders Association (GPPU), Paulus Setiabudi said that indication to the business uncertainty clearly shown by the absence of new investment in poultry industry during the first five month of this year. In effect, demand and production of day old chick for the first quarter was dropped. He said that since last April national broiler chick production declined to only 17 million per week from about 21 million chicks per week in December 2005. According to Paulus, GPPU forecasted broiler output in 2006 would grow some 6.4% or reach 1.075 billion chicks per year. “But this target will likely hard to be achieved,” Paulus said.

Broiler chick production in 2004 and 2005 were 975 million and 1.010 billion respectively. While layer chick production in the same period were 55 million and 48 million respectively. Previously, GPPU estimated growth of 8.3% for layer chick production this year which is equivalent to 52 million. According to Paulus the number of productive parent stock broiler this year is about 11 million birds while parent stock layer is 600 thousand birds.

In 2005, Paulus added, layer population was 76.3 million birds and it is expected to increase to 79.4 million birds in 2006. But again, in addition to AI, economic factors will likely restrain production prospects in 2006.

INDONESIA feedmilling industry depends almost entirely on the growth or success of livestock and poultry production.  Similarly, the productivity and profitability of livestock and poultry are also dependent on the production efficiency and advanced technology of the feedmilling industry, as reflected in its capability to produce high quality feeds at reasonable and stabilized prices.

In order to achieve certain efficiencies and effects some production costs savings, feedmillers must have broad connections with raw material suppliers.

In the country, there are many of egg producers do self-mixing for their layer feed, especially those with close access to the main feed raw material, corn. They buy concentrate from big feedmillers and mix it with corn and rice bran. Some of the self mixers said that they are more satisfied formulating their own feed as they can set the formula with their layer chickens demand. These producers have their own laboratory and nutritionist to make sure the nutrient content of an ingredient.

On the other hand, all of broiler producers buy complete feed from feed manufacturers. As feed Industry is charged with the responsibility of producing a high quality, consistent feed from a number of variable ingredients and doing it economically, quickly and efficiently is inevitable. It must put in front of the target animal a feed of a quality and in the condition specified by the nutritionist.

In fact, the formulation of a feed by the nutritionist is only the beginning of a process that ends when the feed is consumed. The customer must be confident that the feed he buys is safe, is free of toxic elements, is properly medicated and generally meets nutritional guidelines.

Nutritionist is central to the program in that he or she sets the nutritional standards for incoming ingredients as well as finished feeds and ensures that they are met. Also, the nutritionist ensures that the manufacturing process is set up in such a way that it can produce and deliver a feed that is uniform, palatable and efficacious for the class of animal that it is being fed to.

Most nutritionists do not use the average nutrient content of an ingredient in formulation because that means half the time the ingredient is overvalued and the feed may be short-changed. Usually, some statistical measure is applied to the mean to increase the percentage of times the nutrient level of a specific ingredient is at or above the expected level. Combining efficient receiving procedures with standards of quality set by the nutritionist should minimize problems with poor quality ingredients.

The process of feed manufacturing produces several critical control points at which the quality assurance program takes on special importance and at which one has to pay special attention. These areas of special interest are as follows: receiving, raw product storage, raw product processing, weighing and mixing, pelleting, delivery of feeds, cross contamination.

Complete report can be read in Laporan Utama.

DEPUTY-chief of the North Sumatra Animal Husbandry Office, Tetty Erlina Lubis, said the administration had no plan for a mass cull of poultry as recommended by the Agriculture Ministry's investigative team. "Our investigation results, signed by the director of animal health Samsul Bahri, concluded the bird flu virus had not come from people's livestock. Based on that, the animal husbandry directorate general recommended a mass cull in Karo was not necessary," Tetty said.

Karo regency where village of Kubu Sembilang is located was infected by the deadly flu. The last multiple deaths of relatives live in this village.

A senior official at the National Commission on Bird Flu, Emil Agustiono, said the lack of coordination among government agencies, and between them and such international partners as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food Agricultural Organization, partly contributed to the rapid spread of the H5N1 strain of virus across the 27 of the country's 33 provinces. "There was a tendency to work individually, but now we're starting to step up our internal communication," he said.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) director-general Jacques Diouf said there may be a need to review the strategy in fighting bird flu from one of preventing a pandemic to limiting bird flu infection among poultry. "If we are able to at least limit the number of birds that are infected, then we would limit the risk of transmission to human beings and other consequences," he said.

The FAO has committed some US$4 million in supporting the fight here, and is also mobilizing foreign donors. "We need to strengthen veterinary services in Indonesia and develop a compensation program for those whose poultry are affected," Diouf said.