JAKARTA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia plans to import at least 1.3 million cattle to meet its domestic meat demand and support its free meal program.
The country's Ministry of Agriculture announced on Thursday that the import process will begin after President-elect Prabowo Subianto assumes office later this month. The free meal program, initiated by Prabowo, aims to provide daily free lunches to all students across the Southeast Asian country to address their nutritional needs.
"As of today, more than 40 companies have agreed to participate in the import program. We need to import cattle to support the program. Otherwise, it could take hundreds of years for our domestic livestock to reproduce and meet national demand," said Vice Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono in Jakarta.
He explained that Indonesia currently has 12 million livestock ready for slaughter, which is insufficient for a population of 270 million.
Sudaryono also noted that raising more cattle domestically remains challenging due to the high cost of farmland and cattle feed. However, he expressed hope that more business players would be willing to invest in cattle farming. ■