Indonesia: cattle and oil palm trees can be good for each other
20/08/2013
A survey into the wider agricultural environment in Indonesia is said to have confirmed a considerable reduction in the size of the national cattle herd as meat companies send breeding stock to slaughter.
In 2011, Indonesia had a herd of 14.8 million head. In 2012, according to the survey, numbers fell to 12 million.
One proposal is to put cattle to graze on some of Indonesia’s 9 million hectares of oil palm plantation, with waste from the oil palm trees being used to feed the cattle and manure from the cattle helping in turn to fertilise the plants.
Some representatives of the Indonesian government have proposed inviting Australian investors to become involved in this project.
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