Jakarta, Nov 8 (IANS) The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture has prepared 1.5 million hectares of land for dairy and beef cattle farming to increase the country's meat and milk production.

"We hope this will attract investor interest to support the development of sustainable, modern cattle farming in Indonesia," said Agung Suganda, director general of animal husbandry and animal health, on Thursday.

Livestock clusters will also be established, bringing together corporations, cooperatives, and farmer groups, Xinhua news agency reported.

This programme is also intended to support the free meals programme, which will be implemented in January 2025, to boost public access to nutritious food.

Earlier, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman announced that specific land areas have been set aside for dairy cattle farming in Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, and South Kalimantan.

This year, Indonesia’s milk output is estimated at 1 million tonnes, while demand is estimated at 4.7 million tonnes.

With the imported dairy cows, the government expects milk output in 2029 will reach 8.17 million tonnes, the presentation showed.

Potential sources of dairy cows include Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, the US, and Mexico, the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is also preparing more measures to boost purchasing power, as a spate of factory closures and job cuts weakened consumption and slowed economic growth last quarter.

The GDP expanded 4.95 per cent in the three months through September from a year earlier, the country’s statistics agency announced on Tuesday. This marks the slowest quarterly pace since the 4.94 per cent expansion posted in the same period a year ago.

President Prabowo Subianto is aiming to boost growth to as high as eight per cent during his five-year term at the helm of Southeast Asia’s largest economy. He hand-picked on Tuesday several veterans of previous administrations to act as his economic advisers.

Ex-Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu and ex-Finance Minister Chatib Basri will sit in the newly set up National Economic Council, reporting to Luhut Pandjaitan, a former senior Minister who drove Indonesia’s ambitions to become a battery and electric vehicle maker.

After the council meets with the president on Tuesday to discuss the latest GDP data, Pangestu said that the government is planning policies to revive the purchasing power of the middle class that could be implemented this quarter.

“Food prices are relatively high, and we are worried that inflation will rise if oil prices increase,” she said.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said that the fourth-quarter growth print could be much better as the government plans to roll out incentives for investment into labor-intensive sectors. He reiterated that full-year GDP growth would likely come in around five per cent.

--IANS

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