YOGYAKARTA - Business opportunities in poultry industry is open wide in line with the increase of world food prices and consumption of animal protein. In the country, broiler meat and eggs business have been able to absorb 2.5 million direct workers with turnover of more than 50 trillion per year. "These businesses provide jobs, especially in rural areas, at least the business is able to reduce the rate of urbanization to the city, boosting the rural economy and increasing the purchasing power of farmers," said Senior Vice President of PT Primakarya Persada, Ir. Achmad Dawami, in a seminar on poultry at the UGM Faculty of Animal Science, Saturday (26/3).
He said the poultry industry sector should be given serious attention by the government to achieve national food self-sufficiency. World food prices rise is due to increasing population, economic growth and reduction of agricultural land. "This condition requires each country to strengthen its food self-sufficiency," he added.
Some of the indicators are that China currently reduces exports of grains, like corn, which has been used as main raw material for food. The country is even importing grains in the near future that will affect the world price of corn. Meanwhile, Russia will soon carry out self-sufficiency in the production of chicken and pork. An estimated 85 percent of domestic needs will be met by 2015. "Brazil obtains huge profits from the rise of raw material feed prices and increasingly develops its poultry industry that is still the largest in the world," he said.
To achieve a strong poultry sector in the country, according to Dawami, is not easy and there are many obstacles, among others, economic growth is still relatively low, the real sector has not grown optimally, the poultry industry is still fragmented, and many poultry production facilities are still imported such as corn. "Indonesia should have been self-sufficient (of corn) as the main ingredient of feed," says the alumnus of the Faculty of Animal Science.
Moreover, the poultry industry is facing problems of Avian Influenza. Meanwhile, in the investment aspect, it is constrained by the high bank interest rates.
The business increase in the field of poultry industry does not only promote economic life. The sector is expected to encourage increased consumption of animal protein, although consumption of meat and eggs in Indonesia is lower compared to Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore. “Consumption of meat and eggs in Indonesia reached only 4.5 kg/capita/year and egg consumption 80 kg/capita/year. Compare with Malaysia, the consumption of meat is 38.5 kg/capita/year while eggs 311 kg/capita/year," he said.