Sally Furniss
Well-known member
Bird flu won't stop RI promoting poultry, eggs
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government plans to continue promoting poultry farms as the leading source of protein in Indonesia, despite millions of chickens, birds and ducks having been infected with bird flu, which poses threats to public health.
The head of the avian influenza control unit at the Agriculture Ministry, Darminto, said chicken helped the government meet its goal of improving the people's nutrition, and that his office had no plan to promote substitutes to chicken farming.
"We have compelling reasons not to do what the Vietnamese government did," he said.
Vietnam decided to temporarily close down chicken farming and urged its farmers to turn to pig cultivation instead.
Darminto explained that the people's protein consumption level increased from 5.2 grams per day to 6 grams per day by eating chickens.
"And the chickens and ducks as well as their eggs are the cheapest available sources here compared to other protein sources like meat," he said.
Fowl's meat costs less than US$2 per kilogram in Indonesia, while cow and goat meats are sold for between $3 to $7 per kilogram in the traditional market.
The second reason, Darminto said, was that there is no way to promote pig farming in the world's largest Muslim nation, even though it is also considered a good source of protein.
He said instead of pigs the government would promote other alternatives to chickens as the leading protein source.
"We are encouraging the development of goat farming across Sumatra and Java," he said.
Health experts fear the unregulated poultry farming industry in Indonesia will be a haven for H5N1 transmission if it is not better managed.
Millions of sick and dead fowls in Indonesia have transmitted bird flu to at least 35 people, of whom 25 are confirmed to have died.
Darminto said while it promotes chicken farming, the government will continue efforts to contain the spread of the virus by implementing nine strategic approaches to control it.
"They include stepping up biosecurity levels and strengthening surveillance and monitoring programs," he said.
Doctor Santoso Saroso, the director of the Sulianti Suroso Infectious Diseases Hospital, which has been appointed as the main institution to treat bird flu patients, has asked the government to do its utmost in containing the spread of the virus in the poultry sector.
"As long as poultry here are still infected, threats of human infection remain strong," he said.
Some health experts have criticized the government for failing to stop the spread of bird flu. They say the virus could mutate into forms that would be easily transmitted among humans, causing a global pandemic.
In response, the government argued that it has no money to fund massive culling and said it prefers to do selective culling with low-level compensation.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060515.H01&irec=1
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government plans to continue promoting poultry farms as the leading source of protein in Indonesia, despite millions of chickens, birds and ducks having been infected with bird flu, which poses threats to public health.
The head of the avian influenza control unit at the Agriculture Ministry, Darminto, said chicken helped the government meet its goal of improving the people's nutrition, and that his office had no plan to promote substitutes to chicken farming.
"We have compelling reasons not to do what the Vietnamese government did," he said.
Vietnam decided to temporarily close down chicken farming and urged its farmers to turn to pig cultivation instead.
Darminto explained that the people's protein consumption level increased from 5.2 grams per day to 6 grams per day by eating chickens.
"And the chickens and ducks as well as their eggs are the cheapest available sources here compared to other protein sources like meat," he said.
Fowl's meat costs less than US$2 per kilogram in Indonesia, while cow and goat meats are sold for between $3 to $7 per kilogram in the traditional market.
The second reason, Darminto said, was that there is no way to promote pig farming in the world's largest Muslim nation, even though it is also considered a good source of protein.
He said instead of pigs the government would promote other alternatives to chickens as the leading protein source.
"We are encouraging the development of goat farming across Sumatra and Java," he said.
Health experts fear the unregulated poultry farming industry in Indonesia will be a haven for H5N1 transmission if it is not better managed.
Millions of sick and dead fowls in Indonesia have transmitted bird flu to at least 35 people, of whom 25 are confirmed to have died.
Darminto said while it promotes chicken farming, the government will continue efforts to contain the spread of the virus by implementing nine strategic approaches to control it.
"They include stepping up biosecurity levels and strengthening surveillance and monitoring programs," he said.
Doctor Santoso Saroso, the director of the Sulianti Suroso Infectious Diseases Hospital, which has been appointed as the main institution to treat bird flu patients, has asked the government to do its utmost in containing the spread of the virus in the poultry sector.
"As long as poultry here are still infected, threats of human infection remain strong," he said.
Some health experts have criticized the government for failing to stop the spread of bird flu. They say the virus could mutate into forms that would be easily transmitted among humans, causing a global pandemic.
In response, the government argued that it has no money to fund massive culling and said it prefers to do selective culling with low-level compensation.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060515.H01&irec=1