Bandung, West Java (ANTARA) - The West Java Provincial Food and Livestock Security Office (DKPP) is striving to recover the livestock population in the province following the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak by distributing additional cattle.
"(There will be) disbursement of about 750 sheep and beef cattle (to breeders)," head of the West Java DKPP, Moh. Arifin Soedjayana, informed on Saturday.
In addition, at least 138 imported dairy cows will be provided to breeders in collaboration with the Indonesian Dairy Cooperative Association (GKSI).
According to Soedjayana, 2022 was a challenging year for the development of the livestock sector in the province, which is one of the cattle production centers of Indonesia, due to the FMD outbreak.
The outbreak pushed all actors in the livestock sector to continue to innovate and collaborate to prevent the transmission of the disease, he stated.
"Praises be to God, to date, out of the 68 thousand cattle infected with FMD, the recovery rate reached 82.2 percent, the mortality rate was 16.8 percent, while there are only 504 remaining active cases or equivalent to 0.79 percent (of the total infected animals)," Soedjayana informed.
He said that the outbreak was handled well due to the support of West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil.
Hence, the governor received an award from local livestock business players, such as GKSI, for his great attention to FMD handling, he added.
In addition, the Indonesian Sheep and Goat Breeders Association (HPDKI) lauded the efforts made by the governor for conserving and developing local genetic resources of Garut sheep.
The awarding ceremony was carried out at Pakuan Building here on Saturday at the same time as the launch of the veterinary service car program, which has been abbreviated “Moyanvet.”
Meanwhile, another award was presented to the West Java provincial government for its efforts to handle the outbreak, guarantee animal product security, as well as develop the livestock sector in the province.
The award for the provincial government was presented by the West Java I branch of the Indonesian Veterinary Association (PDHI), Indonesian Animal Husbandry Scholars (ISPI), and Indonesian Veterinary Drug Association (ASOHI).
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