"The availability of our sacrificial animals is still in excess of the predicted need for Eid al-Adha this year," director of animal breeding and production at the ministry, Agung Suganda, said at an FMB9 discussion, which was accessed from Jakarta on Wednesday.
The demand for sacrificial animals this year is predicted to reach 1.8 million, while the availability of animals is pegged at 2.27 million, he informed. Thus, Indonesia still has a surplus of around 469 thousand animals.
The demand for this year was calculated based on the 2021 Eid al-Adha, when 1.64 million heads of sacrificial animals were slaughtered.
Specifically, this year the availability of sacrificial cows has reached 866,677, buffaloes 29,120, goats 973,343, and sheep 409,018.
"The projection of the need for slaughtering sacrificial animals in 2022 will increase by around 9–11 percent from 2021," Suganda said.
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Even though the availability of sacrificial animals is sufficient nationally, there are several provinces experiencing a deficit, namely Jakarta, Jambi, Bangka Belitung, North Kalimantan, and East Kalimantan.
The Ministry of Agriculture has already created an engineering distribution channel to supply animals to areas experiencing a deficit, Suganda said.
He informed that sacrificial animals originating from red zones have been prohibited from leaving the areas. The animals are only allowed to be slaughtered in their zone of origin. Meanwhile, sacrificial animals from yellow areas can be distributed among yellow areas.
Red and yellow zones are areas with a high number of FMD cases.
"Meanwhile, animals from green areas can be distributed to green areas and yellow areas," he added.
The Ministry of Agriculture has also suggested that people in areas with limited availability of sacrificial animals make online sacrifices through official Qurbani organizers.
"But we are still trying to fulfill the availability of sacrificial animals as needed. God willing, nationally, we are sure that the availability of sacrificial animals is still sufficient, even surplus," Suganda said.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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