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Hundreds of Poultry Farmers in West Sumatra Bankrupt
Bukittinggi - Hundreds of poultry farmers in West Sumatra are suffering from bankruptcy because shortage in corn supply for poultry feed has caused its price to sky rocket, while the price of chicken eggs is currently experiencing a downfall.
Chief of the West Sumatera Layer Chicken Farmer Association, Akmal, on Sunday (9/5) said that currently about 15 percent of 1,800 farmers in West Sumatra have stopped their business.
Most of the 270 large scale and small scale farmers that went bankrupt closed their business between November 2009 and May 2010.
According to Akmal, high corn price due to shortage in supplies was the main problem. Currently the price of corn in West Sumatra is Rp. 2,800 per kilogram, far more expensive that the price of corn in Lampung, Rp. 2,200 per kilogram, and Medan, Rp. 2,400 per kilogram. “The corn price here is the most expensive in Indonesia,” said Akmal.
It is because local West Sumatra production, which is mostly from Pasaman district, is not enough for local demands.
Akmal said corn production in West Sumatra is only 400,000 tons per year, while the demand is 700,000 tons per year.
Based on data from the West Sumatra Layer Chicken Farmer Association, there the total population of layer chickens in West Sumatra is 6 million chickens; 4.5 million chickens are in two production centers, Limapuluh Kota district and Payakumbuh city.
West Sumatra Governor, Marlis Rahman, said the government can not prohibit feed mills from buying local corn. If it is done, feed operations will be disrupted and some mills could even go bankrupt.
Head of the Livestock Service Office of West Sumatra, Edwardi, said they are planning to expand cornfields to overcome the corn crisis. (INK)
Source : Kompas