BPPT and Partnership Assess the Commercial Opportunities and Challenges in the Integration of Cattle Breeding and Oil Palm Plantation


Indonesian Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) in collaboration with the Indonesia Australia Partnership on Food Security in the Red Meat and Cattle Sector (Partnership) held the 2019 Integrated Cattle and Oil Palm Production (ICOP) Conference in Jakarta (10/23).

Jakarta, 23 October 2019

The 2019 ICOP Conference discussed various research findings and on-the-ground experiences from academics and industry players on their effort in promoting profitable cattle and palm oil integration.

In 2018, 40% of total domestic beef consumption in Indonesia was met by imports. The main challenge in increasing cattle population in Indonesia is the low investment in cattle breeding, which is still considered as high cost and less profitable business.

The Head of BPPT, Hammam Riza revealed that one of BPPT main focuses is to study the potential use of oil palm plantations to integrate with cattle farmers, especially smallholder farmers.

The Conference celebrates the outcomes of BPPT’s five-year research on integrated cattle and oil-palm production (SISKA) on smallholder farms in Pelalawan, Riau and Partnership’s three-year research on SISKA in larger oil palm plantations across four provinces in Indonesia.

Deputy for Investment Cooperation, BKPM, Wisnu Wijaya Soedibjo who is also the Co-Chair of the Indonesia Australia Partnership on Food Security in the Red Meat and Cattle Sector, said that Partnership, through Indonesia Australia Commercial Cattle Breeding (IACCB) program has been piloting the integration of cattle and oil-palm since 2016. "Cattle breeding business in Indonesia could utilize existing land, including ex-mining land and oil palm plantations,” said Wisnu.

It is estimated that there are more than 14 million hectares of oil palm plantations in Indonesia. "Cattle breeding on oil palm plantations could provide additional income streams for their owners, reduce production costs and increase productivity," Wisnu said further.

Deputy Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Allaster Cox, stated that Indonesia and Australia have a long and important history of cooperation in agriculture, including in the red meat and cattle sector. "Through the Partnership, the Australian Government continues to promote innovations and learnings to improve the productivity, sustainability and competitiveness of Indonesia’s red meat and cattle sector, including in promoting commercial cattle breeding," said Cox.

The 2019 ICOP Conference is the first platform in Indonesia that specifically discussed the integration of cattle and oil-palm production, including the commercial opportunities, day-to-day operational management, and challenges. The forum provide a platform for academics and industry players to exchange experiences, collaborate, and access information on new opportunities and innovation.

In the conference, BPPT and Partnership also launched technology-based innovations in the cattle breeding sector. BPPT launched the new application: SI PINTAR, which aims to record and identify livestock with RFID recording and GPS tracker to monitor livestock in real time basis. Partnership through the IACCB Program launched investor tools for smallholder farmers and large-scale industries: CALFIN, a spreadsheet to support investors and cattle breeding businesses in making investment decisions; CALPROS, a spreadsheet for small or new breeders to monitor the operational activities and productivity of cattle and their offspring; and CALPROF, livestock management software for larger cattle breeding businesses to support day-to-day operations on cattle breeding, fattening and feed processing.

ICOP 2019 was attended by around 200 participants from academics and industry players on cattle and oil palm, and involved more than 20 speakers and paper reviewers, including international players from Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. In addition, ICOP 2019 also invited innovators and service providers in the field of cattle and oil-palm integration such as SMARTernak, Nutrifeed and Gallagher.

For more information on the 2019 ICOP Conference, visit www.icopconference.org