AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

COUNTRY REPORT - INDONESIA

Dr. Dewi Apri Astuti
Professor in Animal Nutrition
Faculty of Animal Science, Bogor
Agricultural University Indonesia
E-mail: ewiapriastuti86@gmail.com

1.

Current status of dairy goat farming in Indonesia

Indonesia has six months of dry and six months of rainy seasons. The
average temperature from Sabang Island in the western part to Merauke in
the eastern part of Indonesia ranges of 20oC to 34oC, with humidity of 55 to
90% (BMKG, Indonesia, 2013). The farming systems are different in both
regions, with the western part being more semi-intensive and modern,
while the eastern part is mostly traditional or grazing with respect to cattle.
Historically, goats, sheep and cattle were reared traditionally by farmers
since many hundreds of years ago. Dairy farms are rare in the western part
of Sumatra, Java, and negligible in the Borneo islands.
Milk production is increasing yearly, but it has not matched the rapidly
increased demand. Most of the milk comes from dairy cows which
presently only meets 30% of total national demand with the remaining
been imported as powdered milk. The huge deficit in fresh milk supply thus
provides an opportunity for dairy goat farming (Astuti and Sudarman, 2012).
Dairy goat farmers usually keep their animals for dual- purpose; milk and
meat, and only a few of them keep the animals for breeding and milk. In
the last twenty five years however, dairy goats are increasing gradually with
the establishment of the Etawah Breeding Center in Kaligesing, Purworejo,
central Java. Number of dairy goat farmers in Java has increased and
different farming systems are found depending on the region. In western
Java, there are more intensive dairy production systems, resulting in a
33

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

higher milk yield as compared to the central and eastern Java where goats
are reared semi-intensively. Some Universities such as Bogor Agricultural
University, Pajajaran, Gadjah Mada and Brawijaya and also several
government research stations are actively promoting and provide very
good support for goat production.
1.1 Dairy goat population
The population of goat in Indonesia is increasing swiftly, particularly in
West Jaya at the rate of about 6 % per year. The total population of goats
was around 17.5 million in 2011 (Table 1) involving 3.5 million household
farmers (Indonesian Livestock Statistics, 2011).
Table 1. Goat population by province in Indonesia (`000 head)
Province
West Java
Central Java
East Java
Others (30 provinces)
Total

2007
1294
3126
2444
7606
14470

2008
1431
3356
2739
7621
15147

2009
1600
3499
2779
7937
15815

2010
1801
3691
2822
8305
16619

2011
2009
3803
2864
8806
17482

The population of goats in Indonesia has increased in the last five years,
from 14.5 million in 2007 to be 17.5 million in 2011. The goats are spread
throughout 33 provinces with the highest population in Central Java (21%)
followed by East Java (16%) and West Java (11 %). From the total goat
populations approximately 4-5 millions (32%) are reared for milk
production. The does are kept for milking and breeding stock, while some
good rams are kept for breeding stock and animal contest. Fifteen years
ago, goat and sheep farmers formed an association called HPDKI and
recently (ten years ago) the dairy goat farmers established an association
named ASPENAS with the primary objective to organize dairy goat contests
and shows. The above two organizations share the same objective to
improve goat milk production and promote price of goat milk. ASPENAS has
regular contests; yearly or once in two years to identify the best Etawah
crossbred goats. ASPEKPIN also actively promoting milk production in other
goat breeds such as Saanen as dairy goats.
34

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

1.2 Breeds of dairy goats

Indonesia has the worlds second largest animal biodiversity. Goat farming
has a good potential to be developed into commercial production in
Indonesia because goats are very well-adapted to the tropical environment
and require lower investments. Farmers, using the traditional farming
system usually raise a few animals (~10 heads) which serve as a living
bank for emergencies, as a source of fertilizer for their crops as well as
playing an important role to the social-status of the owners in the village.
Goats are usually reared to produce meat and milk. In Indonesia there are
many goat breeds such as the Bali, Boerawa, Etawah, Gembrong,
Jawarandu, Kacang, Kosta, Marica, Muara, Samosir, Kapra, Etawah
crossbreds and Saanen. Among them, only Etawah, Etawah crossbred
(Etawah crossed with local Kacang goat) and Saanen goats are promising
dairy goats.
Kacang goat is the native Indonesian goat. The average body weight of
Kacang goat is 25 kg for the males and 20 kg for the females. They are very
well adapted to the tropical climate. The Etawah goat originates from the
Jamnapari from India, and owes its name from the Etawah district where it
was first introduced. The mature male weighs about 90 kg and the female
around 60 kg. The milk production of the native and crossbred goats ranged
from 0.5 to 3 liter per day depending on breed types. Etawah x Saanen
crossbred produces more than three liter per day during first month
lactation.

35

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

Table 2. Milk production in dairy goat breeds in different regions of

Indonesia
Provinces/Districts
DKI Jakarta and
Banten
West Java (Bogor,
Bandung, Sumedang,
Garut)
Middle Java
(Purworejo)
Yogyakarta (Sleman
and Kulon Progo)
East Java (Blitar,
Banyuwangi, Malang
andTulungagung)
Lampung & Aceh
East Kalimantan

Milk. Prod.
(L/head/d)
0.51
0.75 3

Purpose

Breed

Breeding and
milk
Breeding and
Milk

EC* and
Saanen
Etawah,
EC*and
Saanen
Etawah and
EC*
EC* and local
goat
Etawah, EC*
and Saanen

0.5-1

Breeding

0.751.5

Breeding and
Milk
Breeding and
milk

12

0.5-1

Dual-purpose

0.5

Dual-purpose

EC*& local
goat
EC*& local
goat

*EC = Etawah crossbred. Personal communication by author.

2.

Production systems

2.1 Farm Size

Most of the goats in Indonesia are kept for meat and only few farmers in
several regions (Java) keep their goats for milk production. The problems
faced by the small-holder and semi intensive farms are low milk production
partly due to the poor quality feed, lack of proper storage and
transportation facilities, marketing and governmental support. Some
modern farmers/company in West Java with large land and good housing
and feeding facilities have more than 100 animals per farm supported by
good market and milk price. Usually the bigger farmers sell their milk direct
to the consumers, including hospital, restaurants and processing plants. In
middle Java the farms are mostly owned by small landless farmers who
36

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

keep only a few animals (less than ten) with only a few farms have more
than 20 animals each. For example, at the district of Kemirikebo,
Yogyakarta, the group making up of 65 households keeps 623 goats as a
cooperative. The urine and faeces collected from the animals are sold at
USD1.5/L and USD5/zak, respectively as fertilizers to the fruit plantations in
the vicinity of the farm. Excess milk is processed into caramel milk candy,
ice cream, milk crackers, dodol and yoghurt with a variety of flavors
including strawberry, apple and coconut. At the Pakem district of
Yogyakarta, there is a modern farmer who has a milking machine to milk his
goats and a mini-factory for making yoghurt. Meanwhile Bondan farm from
the Condongcatur district of Yogyakarta has introduced a unique way to sell
the fresh milk by a door-price system (Kompas Newspaper, 2011). In East
Java, the farm size of dairy goat farms is as big as those at the central Java
but most of them are operated as farmer cooperatives. Milk price is the
same as in other regions but they have good niche markets as the results of
demand. Some activities, like good farm practices and milk processing
training were provided by the Balai Besar Pelatihan Peternakan, Ministry of
Agriculture at Batu Malang, East Java.
2.2 Product
Agriculture and home-industry wastes such as casava and corn leaves, rice
brand, soy tofu and tempe waste, and also dates waste are used as feed
suplementation. More advanced farmers have a better understanding of
animal health and dairy farm management thus obtain good yield. Typically
farmers raise up to 10 goats per family with cut and carry method of
feeding. In smaller farms with fewer goats, the animals are let out grazing
and roaming freely in the rice fields. Goat milk is considered as a healthy
food. In some areas farmers sell their milk directly to the consumers but in
some cases they sell it to the cooperative or distributors. The price of direct
selling is around USD 1.5 - 2 per liter, while selling to the distributors fetch
lower prices (USD 1 1.5 per liter) depand on fat content. Advanced farmer
normally sell directly the product to the special market (hospital, restaurant,
regular consumers) at much higher price (up to USD 5 per liter). In west
Java the demand for goat milk is higher than supply, while in middle of Java,
it is the opposite.

37

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

2.3 Feeding and nutrition

In the past, farmers raised goats by feeding them with available natural
grasses. Since dairy goat farming developed, the goats are supplemented
with concentrates. The feed suplement could be from ingredients like
soybean meal, rice bran, palm kernel meal, coconut meal, dates waste tofu
and tempeh by products. Legumes like Indigofera sp., Calliandra sp.,
Leucaena sp. and grasses like Panicum maximum and Brachiaria
humidicolaare are commonly used. Silage are also widely used in the areas
of rice fields. Universities and governmental research institutions provide
information and technology on good farming practices to increase
production performance of dairy goats. Feed is the most importance in
animal production. Indigofera sp. (Photo 1) is now being introduced to all
dairy goat farmers in order to increase the protein requirement. Utilization
of native grass plus rice bran has been evaluated in lactating goats and
experiment with tempeh waste as feed suplement has also been conducted
(Astuti et al., 2003). Results of the above studies show milk production can
reach 1.5 L/day.

Photo 1: Indigofera sp.

3.

Health management

Many traditional dairy goat farmers do not know about vaccination

program and good animal husbandary practices. They often depend on
natural herbal medicine to treat their animals (mostly at Center Java).
38

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

However, some advanced farms even apply biosafety security protocol and
food safety practices in their farms. Most of the deseases in dairy goat
farming are related to parasites, bload, mastitis and only in a few cases
brucellosis. Reproductive performance is one of the important information
to gather in breeding stocks. Estrus synchronization with PGF2 hormone is
very commonly used by modern farmer to get uniformed kids or breeding
stocks. For example the Bangun Karso Farm, with 200 dairy goats, usually
synchronized the animals and then mate their females by natural mating.
Unfortunately, the data are not well kept thus it is not of much use for
genetic improvement.

4.

Goat milk production statistics

There is no information regarding goat milk statistic in Indonesia.

4.1 Consumers preference
Moeljanto, et al., (2002) reported that flouride concentration of goat milk is
10 to 100 times higher than that in cow milk, thus goat milk can be used as
natural antiseptic and as alkaline and healthy food. The milk is safe to
consume and could neutralize stomach pH. Goat milk also reported to
contain highly digestible proteins and fat, and sodium, calcium and
phosphorus contents. The low milk consumption in Indonesia is not only
caused by shortage and high price, but also by culture and preference. Very
few Indonesians like and can afford goat milk. Although the government
had attempted to promote drinking of goat milk through programs such as
Milk Day, it has not been successful.
4.2 Price of goat milk
There is no reliable price statistics of goat milk in Indonesia. According to
personal communication with dairy goat producers, the price of fresh goat
milk in 2013 has increased to US$2- 3per liter which is approximately 3 to 4
times higher than that of cow milk. In a few regions, goat milk contributes
significantly to the total milk supply. Goat milk in big cities such as Jakarta
and Surabaya fetches high price of up to US$2.5 to 5 per liter.

39

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

5.

Challenges and solutions to enhance dairy goats farming

5.1 Challenges
Information on the population, milk production and dairy goat production
as an enterprise is lacking. Dairy goat production needs the support from
both the government and private sectors. Presently there are some
activities on improving and promoting dairy goat farming; e.g. through
breeding and multiplication programs to increase the dairy goat population,
and applying of modern production technologies.
The population and income of Indonesian is on the increase and the
demand for healthy food has also increased. In 2011, the annual milk
consumption per capital was 6.92 kg. Infant milk powder and sweeten
canned liquid milk make up the major overall milk consumption. Thus the
production of fresh milk could potentially increase to meet increasing
demands for either processed or fresh milk. The demand cannot be met by
local production, thus the government has to import, mainly in the form of
milk powder. Thus goat milk can play a role as an alternative source to
meet the increasing demand. This provides an opportunity for small dairy
goat farmers to venture in dairy goat production and contribute to increase
the national milk supply. Goat milk however is still not as popular as cow
milk, even though goat milk fetches a high price of US$ 5/L in some niche
markets.
The biggest breeding center of Etawah goats in Indonesia is in the
Kaligesing district, Central Java, which is supported by the government.
Presently, the activities and breeding programs have decreased due to
among other reasons; changes in the government roles, increase in capital
requirement, lack of market priority (export), high rate of sterile doe
slaughter and limited postharvest technology and facility.
5.2 Solutions to enhance dairy goat farming
The low milk consumption in Indonesia is not only caused by low milk
production and the high price of the product, but also by culture and
preference. Very few Indonesians like and can afford goat milk. The
40

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

government has attempted to promote drinking of goat milk, though

programs such Milk Day but the programme so far was not very
successful. More governmental policy and research supports is necessary to
further promoting dairy goat production.

6.

Other uses and activities of dairy goats

Several years ago, dairy goat farmers formed the Etawah Crossbred Goat
Breeder Association or better known as ASPENAS locally. Since the
establishment of ASPENAS, animal contests have been one of its popular
activities.

Photo 2: Etawah contest in Central Jaya

7.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express her thanks to the Animal Husbandary
Research Center at Ciawi Bogor and dairy goat farmers for providing data
and goat milk information.

41

AADGN Country Reports 2013/14

8.

References

Astuti, D.A and A. Sudarman. 2012. Dairy Goats In Indonesia: Potential,

Opportunities and Challenges. The 1st Congress of AADGC 2012.
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Badan Meterologi dan Geofisika 2013. Prakiraan cuaca Indonesia.
http://meteo.bmkg.go.id. (28 October, 2012).
Indonesian Livestock Statistic. 2011. Directorate General Livestock Services
and Animal Health, Ministry of Agriculture Republic of Indonesia
Moeljanto, R. Damayanti and Wiryanta, 2002.The potency of goat milk.
Agromedia Pustaka Depok, Indonesia.
Kompas, 2011. Etawah goat increase the farmer income and solved
environment. July, 6 2011.

42