TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan asserted that the stock of Indonesian cattle will run out in four years if there is no significant production increase.

Gita quoted a survey conducted by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in 2011, which recorded the number of Indonesian cattle at 15.6 million cows. However, in a recent farming survey that has not been released to the public, Gita informed that the number have plummeted to 13,2 million.

On the other hand, the amount of a national beef consumption is recorded at 3,5 to 4 million cows annually. Even worse, a considerably stable economic growth in the last few years has caused an annual 15 percent increase in the number of national beef consumption.

"If we could not increase the production or the stock of cattle, they will probably run out in 3 to 4 years," said Gita at the Ministry of Trade office on Tuesday, August 13, 2013.

In an effort to address the issue, the Minister stated that the country must improve its producing capacity or import more cattle. He also informed that several government institutions, including the Trade Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the Industrial Ministry, Statistics Indonesia, and State Logistics Agency (Bulog) will gather shortly to discuss the issue.

PINGIT ARIA