Ade Meirizal Z and Naryanto, Saving Local Chickens from Extinction
Ade Meirizal Zulkarnain, 55, and Naryanto, 40, are concerned about the conservation of local chickens, believing that they could become extinct and that some species already have.
A poultry farm owned by PT Sumber Unggas Indonesia located in Parung district, Bogor regency, West Java, is right next to a residential area. Chicken coops can be seen all over the three-hectare area. Thousands of chickens occupy closed spaces, but with adequate air and lighting.
The chickens are kept in cages according to breed or lineage. Some cages hold several chickens, but others hold only one to three. The goal is to avoid cross-breeding.
In 2017, PT Sumber Unggas Indonesia became the largest native Indonesian chicken farmer in the country, with production doubling every year. It owns a total of 120,000 chickens, which can produce 600,000 chickens per month or 7.5 million per year.
"We don\'t want to see the loss of the native chicken, which is part of the richness of Indonesian biodiversity," Ade said on Saturday (11/5/2019), in Parung, Bogor.
The company has so far been able to conserve five lines of native Indonesian chicken breeds and one strain of migratory chicken that has long existed in Indonesia. The five breeds are gaok, cemani, kedu hitam, black Sumatera and pelung. The one type of migratory chicken from China that has long been in Indonesia is the merawang.
In chicken conservation, the chickens cannot be sold as their pedigree must be kept pure, while local KUB chickens and Sentul Seleksi (Senis) can be sold once a license from the Agricultural Research Agency is obtained.
Ade has been interested in native Indonesian chickens since 2003. Initially, after retiring as a journalist, he wanted to raise poultry or carp. He considered breeding a large business opportunity. He eventually decided to raise native chickens in Sukabumi, West Java. At that time, Ade did not know the types of chickens native to Indonesia.
Unfortunately, in 2005, his chickens died from bird flu. Instead of giving up, he made his farm a place for domestic and foreign research institutions to study bird flu.
He also motivated farmers in Sukabumi so that they would not despair. During this period, he began to understand the problems related to native Indonesian chickens.
Ade looked for various sources of references and solutions to overcome the problems
related to poultry farming. He came across a book titled The Restructuring of Livestock and the Rise of Free-Range Chicken Farming (2007).
Ade\'s persistence in conserving local chickens was bolstered by the declaration of Save Indonesian Chickens and Local Poultry to Make Them Masters in Their Own Country.
The 2008 declaration in Yogyakarta contained the concept of saving native Indonesian chickens and what steps needed to be taken. It was like getting a breath of fresh air when the government introduced programs to make local poultry masters in their own country.
"Unfortunately, there has been no concrete action for the conservation of native Indonesian chickens. It has not been carried out optimally for various reasons," Ade said.
Not giving up
Ade continued to carry out various efforts, one of which was the breeding of the sentul chicken. In 2015, Ade met Naryanto, who had the same determination to conserve local chickens.
Naryanto initially bred roosters. He revived the business of his father, Siu Eng, who went bankrupt in 1998. Having gained knowledge on raising poultry from his father, he rebuilt the business in 2002 after studying in Australia.
In 2004, he experienced the same misfortune as Ade when 6,000 of his chickens died within three days of being infected with the bird flu.
The incident led to him to stop raising livestock for almost three years. In 2008, he returned to the business and began raising native chickens. In 2011, he started breeding Balitnak Superior Village (KUB) chickens. This chicken is the result of the selection of local chickens from the Livestock Research Center (Balitnak) in Ciawi, Bogor, West Java. In the same year, he opened his company PT Sumber Unggas Indonesia.
In 2015, he met Ade. After finalizing the concept, in 2016 they began the quest to conserve native Indonesian chickens. He bought 1,500 sentul chickens from PT Ayam Kampung Indonesia (PT AKI).
After PT AKI stopped breeding the chicken, they obtained a KUB chicken and Sentul Seleksi (Sensi) chicken license from the Animal Husbandry Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture. He bought 5,000 Sensi chickens. These two local chickens have been developed for commercial use.
Naryanto said the main challenge in conserving native Indonesian chickens was finding suitable hens. They also needed large cages. The costs related to conservation are also quite high.
Ade said the cost of keeping a native chicken breed pure was very high. The cost of feeding and caring for six to seven generations can reach Rp 8.4 billion for 1,000 chickens. "Conservation should be carried out by the government to protect Indonesia\'s biodiversity," he said.
Conservation is needed so that native chickens do not become extinct. For breeders, local chickens are the highest category, being above crossbred chickens and roosters. Most crossbred chickens and roosters are imported.
Ade voiced hope that the government would contribute to conserving local chicken breeds so that they could be saved from extinction. In addition to preventing their extinction, local chicken breeds can also be used for consumption and reduce our dependence on imported chickens.
"Save Indonesian chickens and make local chickens masters in their own country," Ade said.
Ade Meirizal Zulkarnain
Born: Jakarta, May 4, 1964
Education: Bachelor in Aqidah and Philosophy, IAIN Jakarta (1983)
Experience:
- Member of the presidium at the Alliance of Independent Journalists (1995-1996)
- Founder of Sukabumi Kampung Chicken Farmers (2004)
- Chairman of Indonesia Local Poultry Farmers (2008-2018)
- Secretary-general of the Council of National Farmers (2016-2018)
- Ambassador of Local Chickens for Japfa Foundation (2017-2018)
Awards:
- Pioneer of Intensive kampung Chicken Farmers from Sukabumi regent (2005)
- Biodiversity Conservation Organization from Indonesian Farming Scholars Association (2017)
- Indonesia Seeding Society Award (2017)
Naryanto
Born: Bogor, April 1, 1979
Education: Bachelor of Commerce, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
(graduated in 2002)
Awards: Recipient of Nastiti Budidaya Satwa Nugraha Award in the category of Local Chicken Biosecurity, Indonesian Livestock Industry Award 2018