Impact Of PMK Outbreak, RI Ombudsman Calls Beef Farmers Loss Rp.788.81 Billion: Not Including Dairy Cattle Breeders

JAKARTA - The spread of mouth and nail disease (PMK) in livestock is very fast. In fact, within one month from June-July the FMD outbreak had spread in 22 provinces in Indonesia.

As a result, beef cattle farmers have to bear a significant loss of Rp.788.81 billion. This was conveyed by Member of the Indonesian Ombudsman Yeka Hendra Fatika in a virtual press conference, Thursday, July 14.

Yeka said that currently the FMD outbreak is not only infecting cattle, but also other livestock such as buffalo, goats, sheep and pigs.

Based on the Ombudsman's monitoring as of Tuesday, July 14 2022 at 08.56 WIB on the standbypmk.id page, the total number of sick animals reached 366,540, 140,321 recovered, 2,419 died, 3,698 were conditionally slaughtered, 220,102 have not recovered, vaccination coverage is 476,650, and the number of cases distribution in 22 provinces.

With the massive spread of this epidemic, the Indonesian Ombudsman assessed the Agriculture Quarantine Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture. Through its work units, namely the Center for Animal Quarantine and Biosafety and Technical Implementation Units (UPT) located in every province as well as ports and airports in Indonesia, they failed to carry out their duties to handle the spread of FMD outbreaks.

As a result, said Yeka, cattle breeders, especially beef cattle, suffered significant losses. In fact, every year the Agricultural Quarantine Agency spends a budget that comes from the APBN of approximately Rp. 1 trillion to carry out its duties.

"The Ombudsman is of the view that future mitigation and handling need to be further improved considering the potential value of losses that continues to increase every day. This is a loss of Rp.788.81 billion. It is a loss for beef cattle farmers," he said.

Yeka said the total loss of Rp.788.81 billion did not include the losses suffered by dairy farmers. The loss of dairy farmers reaches Rp. 6 billion per day. This causes a drastic decline in the production of cow's milk they produce.

Based on GKSI data as of July 13, 2022, 19,267 dairy cows infected with FMD in West Java (24.65 percent of the total dairy cattle population), 5,189 in Central Java (12.55 percent of the total dairy cattle population), and 55,478 heads in East Java (31.19 percent of the total dairy cattle population), with a decrease in milk production of 30 percent (about 137.14 tons), 40 percent (about 66 tons), and 30 percent (about 535.71 tons, respectively). ).

"The potential loss is because there our milk production drops by almost 700 tons per day. So today we sleep, tomorrow our milk production will decrease by 700 tons. The potential loss is just 700 tons multiplied by Rp. 8000, so the loss is not less than Rp. 6 billion per day, or in one month it can reach IDR 1.7 trillion," he said.

"So this is not an illustration of a loss that is easy, if we respond to it, we just don't know what will happen," he continued.

In addition, Yeka said, a decrease in people's cow's milk production by 700 tons per day will have an impact on increasing milk imports.