Majalah Poultry Indonesia Online - Poultry Indonesia Printing Edition February 2008

www.poultryindonesia.com. INDONESIA plans to certify commercial poultry farms that are free of bird flu as part of its efforts to control the spread of the disease, an agriculture ministry official said last month. Poultry farms will be monitored for sound practices, including regular vaccination of fowl and overall hygiene, Musny Suatmodjo, director of animal health at the agriculture ministry said.

“During the monitoring, we will take blood samples of their flocks and poultry around the farm. If tests turn out negative, we will give a bird-flu-free certification,” Suatmodjo said. Once certified, the poultry farms will continue to be inspected each month, Suatmodjo added. Indonesia has had 97 human deaths from bird flu, the highest number in the world. Contact with sick fowl is the most common way of contracting bird flu, which is endemic in bird populations in Indonesia. Indonesia has a poultry population of 1.2 billion a year, including 285 million chicken kept by families in their backyards. These backyard chicken are a common feature of rural life in Indonesia, but have hampered efforts to curb bird flu. Suatmodjo said the ministry expects to launch the programme at commercial poultry farms this year, but gave no time frame. “We can’t apply it yet to backyard fowl unless the local government issues rules to put them in cages,” he said.

PUBLIC poultry company PT Malindo Feedmill has allocated up to Rp 245 billion to acquire an affiliated company, PT Leong Ayamsatu Primadona (LAP), and to build a new poultry feed plant next year, says an executive. Malindo Commissioner Tan Lai Kang said early last month that the acquisition would be worth Rp 145 billion, while the new plant would cost his company as much Rp 100 billion to build. The acquisition and new plant were aimed at increasing Malindo’s market share in day-old chicks (DOC), and to expand the company’s sales in Central Java and North Sumatra provinces, he said. Lai Kang said that his company, which is owned by Malaysia-based Dragon Amity Ltd. (76.6 percent) and the public (23.4 percent), hold a shareholders’ extraordinary meeting on January 14, 2008 to get approval for the acquisition plan. According to Lai Kang, LAP, which was established in 1997, had 13 farms for commercial chickens and 7 parent stocks farms in Subang, West Java and Deli Serdang, North Sumatra. Its farms produce 6 million chickens and 62 million DOCs a year, respectively. “The new plant is expected to be ready for operation in 2009 with 360,000 metric tons annual capacity,” said Lai Kang, adding that the plant would be located in Modern Cikande in Serang, Banten.

IT has been one year since Jakarta administration issued gubernatorial regulation banning backyard poultry farming. These days, vendors selling chicken at Jakarta’s market can be found easily with most traders also keep live chickens in coops, for shoppers to choose. The slaughtering and plucking all happens over the counter. Many chickens also roam freely in residential areas. The restriction -- issued by former governor Sutiyoso -- included banning the sale of live chickens at traditional markets, backyard poultry farming as well as the compulsory registration of pet birds. The gubernatorial decree was released in the wake of numerous outbreaks of avian influenza in Jakarta and neighboring Tangerang. Though not immediately, it resulted in a number of campaigns and raids on backyard poultry farms. Most confirmed human cases of avian influenza in Jakarta and Tangerang, were believed to have contracted the H5N1 virus from infected chickens raised in backyard farms. Several cities attempted to follow the Jakarta model, despite the fact that chickens had remained ‘family members’ of many households, and the established chains of local chicken distribution were unchanged. “Law enforcement has always been relatively difficult in this country. Bylaws, especially, must be really clear and concise -- what is allowed and what is not. It’s entirely different to traffic regulations -- if you’re not wearing a helmet, you get fined,” chief executive of the National Committee of Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness Bayu Krisnamurthi said last month. Indonesia’s poultry industry system is complex, Bayu said. A bylaw that addresses backyard farming does not necessarily include a range of farming for self-consumption, or commercial purposes, because many households sell products from backyard farms, he said. “The bylaw cannot be effectively used on its own because the supply chain transverses more than one city,” he said. Jakarta, the capital city, is neighbors with the cities of Tangerang, Depok, Bogor and Bekasi which are respectively under the jurisdiction of Banten and West Java provinces. Live chickens from the neighboring cities are sold at several wet markets across Jakarta, topping up supplies from small to medium poultry businesses operating in Jakarta. Banten provincial administration has issued the same poultry restrictions but has been met with strong opposition from Jakarta and Tangerang officials. Cooperation between local regional administrations was the key to effectively implementing poultry regulations, Bayu said. “In Jakarta’s case,” Bayu added, “neighboring administrations must also impose similar policies”. Agriculture Ministry director of poultry cultivation Jayadi said the central government could only provide technical assistance while encouraging regions to actively control and supervise the poultry industries in their respective territories. He said a presidential instruction on poultry restriction was issued last year but could only advise regional administrations to come up with similar ordinance in their respective regions. “Under the regional autonomy law, regions must take responsibility for such issues. The central government and the Agriculture Ministry can only support this by issuing guidelines to accompany the regulations,” Jayadi said. New guidelines to be issued last month concern (poultry) zoning. Other than proximity with housing areas, the zoning guidelines would include sanitation and cleanliness requirements to be performed by the poultry industry. Jakarta had taken a big step toward making the poultry industry comply with best practices, for the sake of a healthier environment.

INDONESIA is now allowing full market access for beef and beef products in line with international standards, according to United States Department of Agriculture as stated by Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner. “I am pleased today to announce that Indonesia has fully complied with international trade standards regarding beef and beef products by allowing complete market access for U.S. beef and beef products of all ages. I applaud the Indonesian ministries of agriculture for making a decision that is based on science and in line with international guidelines. This shows that constructive and steady discussions with our trading partners are bearing positive results for future U.S. beef exports,” he said. He also added that Indonesia is setting a standard for other Asian nations by agreeing to import U.S. beef and beef products consistent with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines. This agreement with Indonesia emphasizes that U.S. will continue to press for full market access for its beef and beef products of all ages throughout the Pacific Rim.