REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Second presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto opened the option of importing hundreds of dairy cows to meet the needs of a free milk feeding program for children. He estimated it would import 1.5 million head of cattle to meet the need for free milk for Indonesia's 82 million children.

“So, we might have to import 1 million or 1.5 million cows. In the two years she'll give birth, we'll have 3 million. That's our strategy,” Prabowo said during a PWI discussion at the Jakarta Press Council Building, which was also broadcast via YouTube channel PWIOfficial, quoted Friday (5/1/2024).

Quoted from ABC News Agency in October 2023, the export price of steer cattle shipped from Darwin, Australia is about 2.60 US dollars per kilogram. That is, a bull weighing 350 kilograms at the end of last year was valued at more than 900 US dollars or about Rp 13.5 million. Thus, it will take about Rp 20 trillion in funding if Indonesia imports more than 1.5 million cows as offered by the second order budget.

In a discussion held on Thursday (4/1/2024) yesterday, Prabowo mentioned that each child needs 50 milliliters of cow's milk intake. Thus, 40 million liters of cow's milk are needed so that 82 million Indonesian children can drink free milk, such as the option offered by the General Chairman of the Gerindra Party. So, Prabowo said, to meet this need, 1.5 million imported cattle are needed, which are expected to breed quickly in two years, so the number of cows will certainly double.

“That means we need at least dairy cows, yes at least maybe 2.5 million,” Prabowo said.

According to the plan, there are two countries that will be targeted for the import of such cattle, namely Brazil and India. Most likely, cows from Brazil will be much more expensive than from India, and shipping cows from Brazil is expected to take longer than shipping from India.

Earlier in August last year, the head of the Agricultural Quarantine Agency (Barantan) of the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) Bambang said that Indonesia opened the option to import live cattle from countries other than Australia. According to him, Indonesia does not want to be too hopeful with Australia. As for the countries that are options for Indonesia, among others India, Brazil, and South Africa.

However, the decision to import cattle from those countries still requires review. If the result is not possible then the import option will not be taken. The government, Bambang said, was very careful and followed regulations in deciding such matters.

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