W

est Nusa Tenggara is striving to meet its target under the Land of One Million Cattle (BSS) program, declared this year and targeting the goal of 1 million head of cattle by 2013.

The province has so far delivered calves to meet the demands of four other provinces over the past three months.

During this period, 789 calves were sent to South Sulawesi, 455 to South Kalimantan, 456 to Jambi and 300 to Papua.

"This is the first batch, because we're set to deliver 8,500 calves this year," Rosyadah, head of the provincial animal husbandry agency's livestock breeding and development division, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Despite the growing demand for calves from across the country, the provincial administration has reduced the overall consignment quota.

In 2008, the province sent 13,700 calves to five provinces.

The reduction in quota was put into effect to help the province meet its target of having 1 million head of cattle by the year 2013, under the BSS program.

As a consequence, it could not meet the demand for calves from Maluku, West Kalimantan and Riau provinces this year.

"There are also five other provinces that we didn't send calves to this year," Rosyadah said.

She added the total demand from the recipient provinces stood at 14,000 head of cattle, but due to the restricted quota, the consignments to a number of recipient provinces had been reduced this year.

East Kalimantan will only get 3,000 calves, half of its demand for 6,000 calves; South Sulawesi will get 2,000 of 4,000; South Kalimantan will get 1,000 of 2,000, and Papua will only get 500 of 1,000.

The only province to get its full consignment of calves from West Nusa Tenggara was Jambi, which received a total of 2,000 calves.

West Nusa Tenggara Animal Husbandry Agency secretary Kaharuddin said the reduction in consignments would remain in place for the next two years, in a effort to increase the cattle population in the province.

"We will restrict consignments over the next two years, in order to support the BSS program for 2013, but in 2011 we will raise the delivery quota again," he told the Post.

Kaharuddin added his office had informed recipient provinces of the cut in deliveries, which was directly mediated by the Livestock Directorate General in February this year in Jakarta.

"Provinces that will see a cut in quota include Riau, Maluku and West Kalimantan, which recently placed orders for calves," he said.

"We've informed them that West Nusa Tenggara must support the BSS program, and they understood."

The cattle breeding prospects in West Nusa Tenggara are very promising, thanks to the vast and open plains for cattle grazing, particularly on Sumbawa Island, officials say.

The cattle population in the province stood at 546,114 head of cattle in 2008. West Nusa Tenggara was ranked eighth nationwide, when the national cattle population stood at 11,365,879 head of cattle during the same year.

Last year, West Nusa Tenggara delivered 31,728 head of cattle to meet demand for beef cattle outside the province, including Jakarta, East Java and West Java.

In marked contrast to the national deficit of 265,700 head of beef cattle, which has led to the import of expensive cattle from overseas, West Nusa Tenggara has instead enjoyed a surplus every year.