Garut, West Java (ANTARA) - There is a vast opportunity for exporting processed beef and buffalo bones to Japan, which is evidenced by the fact that permanent exporters in Indonesia are still unable to meet demand, the Agriculture Ministry has said.
"Cow or buffalo bones chops, there are so many requests for them coming from Japan, and it has yet to be fulfilled," Coordinator of Information and Technical Facilities for Animal Quarantine at the ministry’s Tanjung Priok Quarantine Center Ai Srimulyati said in Garut, West Java, on Saturday.
The opportunity to export various animal and plant products to different countries is very much available, and the government is ready to facilitate it, she added.
For example, cow and buffalo bones were considered waste, but they turned out to have economic value as they could be exported to Japan.
"The bones of cows and buffaloes, which have been considered waste, (or) are (thrown) in the trash, turn out to (have added value), they have high selling points," Srimulyati said.
The huge opportunity for bone exports was revealed by processed bone exporters in Bekasi, she said. The number of requests was high, and they were willing to buy at any price.
The exporters are processing the waste bones and then selling them to Japan for use in biopore water filtration and organic plant fertilizers.
"The bone is dried, then processed into water filtration, for biopore. If it is in the form of flour, it becomes fertilizer," she informed.
She said that so far, exporters are collecting bones from different locations in Indonesia, then gathering them in Bekasi before processing and exporting them.
She further said that she expected the people of Garut, with the assistance of the local government, to seize the opportunity to export the bones, especially since there are many meatball traders who discard the bones even though they can be processed and sold.
"If you want to, collect the bones, then dry them, send them to Bekasi, (to) the exporter," she suggested.
She said that her administration and Commission IV of the House of Representatives have provided technical guidance to farmers in Garut district to pursue the expedition of exports or the Triple Exports Movement launched by President Joko Widodo and Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo.
The event was supported by a member of Commission IV of the House of Representatives, Ono Surono, who provided technical guidance to encourage the Garut people to take up the opportunity to export various commodities.
"We want Garut people themselves being able to export to other countries," she added.
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