The Red and White Cattle Program Paves the Way to Food Self-Sufficiency and Productive Employment
JAKARTA – The government continues its efforts to reduce dependence on milk imports, which will reach 3.7 million tons by 2023, out of a total demand of 4.53 million tons. To address this challenge, the Ministry of National Development Planning (PPN)/Bappenas is collaborating with PT Moosa Genetika Farmindo (Moosa Genetics) and the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) in a program to develop a superior dairy cattle breed called the Red and White Cattle.
The Secretary of the Ministry of PPN/Bappenas, Teni Widuriyanti, stated that this program is a strategic step to support national food self-sufficiency while ensuring the availability of nutrition for the community.
“This collaboration is carried out within the context of national development, specifically supporting food self-sufficiency and the free nutritious meal program,” said Teni.
The Deputy for Food, Natural Resources, and Environment at Bappenas, Leonardo Teguh Sambodo, emphasized that this innovation not only addresses food security issues but also creates significant socio-economic impacts.
“Going forward, this program is expected to increase the agricultural sector’s contribution to economic growth by up to 8%,” he explained.
In addition to strengthening food security, this program also brings economic benefits to livestock farmers. Moosa Genetics CEO, Deddy Kurniawan, explained that the gene editing method implemented allows Merah Putih cattle to be more resistant to disease and adaptable to tropical climates.
“The target of the Merah Putih cattle program is to increase the population and milk productivity,” he said.
According to Deddy, livestock farmers will experience a significant increase in income by adopting this technology.
“Genetic improvements and husbandry patterns can boost livestock income by up to 2.3 times. If conventional livestock farming only yields around IDR 80 million per cow in five years, with Merah Putih cattle, farmers can earn more than IDR 200 million,” he concluded.
Moosa Genetics develops genetic research based on local cattle through modern molecular reproductive biotechnology. The goal is to increase milk production and the quality of native Indonesian dairy cattle. To date, 80 Merah Putih cattle have been bred, which are expected to become a milestone in national milk production independence.
This innovation is also accompanied by the Indonesian Genomic Breeding Value (IGBV) standard to assess the genetic quality of dairy cattle from birth. With this approach, the government is optimistic that the Merah Putih cattle program will be a key driver of milk self-sufficiency and open productive job opportunities in the livestock sector.
