MURI NKV record presented to the Lampung Governor, the Director of Veterinary Public Health and to PPN Lampung, accompanied by FAO Indonesia and USAID.

The celebration of World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) 2019 was centred on Lampung Province and feels different from previous years. WAAW this year showcased the capacity building achievements of FAO ECTAD Indonesia with local Veterinary Service Officers (VSO) whereby the layer farmers association (Pinsar Petelur Nasional) received an Indonesian World Record award from MURI (Indonesian World Record Museum).

With support from many parties and ten months’ mentoring by Lampung VSOs, fourteen layer farms who had implemented improved 3-zone biosecurity in their farms were awarded Government food hygiene and sanitary certificates or NKV (Veterinary Control Number). The achievement set a new record in the livestock and animal health sector; the awards were presented by the MURI committee to the Governor of Lampung Province, the Director of Veterinary Public Health and PPN Lampung. Why is the MURI record important and what is its meaning?

The Livestock and the Animal Health Sector is Important!

“As the head of this region, I consider the role of the livestock sector to be very important; that is why in 2020, the Livestock and Animal Health Service will be established as a new extension service, separate from the existing Plantation Services Office” said Arinal Djunaedi, Governor of Lampung during the WAAW celebration. This plan to establish a Livestock and Animal Health Service in Lampung has been approved by Parliament. Through the successful WAAW celebration and the MURI record award, the Provincial Livestock Service can prove to the Government of Indonesia that the livestock sector, which has so far lacked major achievements, can produce meaningful results together with poultry farmers, supported by FAO and USAID as their international partners.

Public Private Partnership

Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) run very well in Lampung, where more than 10 private poultry farms have built a solid partnership with PPN Lampung to improve farm biosecurity and poultry flock management. They put aside their rivalries to work together for the common good. PPN Lampung succeeded in uniting three major forces to work together - government, the private sector, and the university. “What we have achieved now cannot be separated from the collaboration of all parties, the government, the private sector and the University supported with technical assistance from FAO over the past year,” said Jenni Soelistiani, chair of PPN Lampung during the WAAW farmers' seminar.

Good Farming Practice

PPN Lampung layer farmers remain enthusiastic about implementing 3-zone biosecurity on their farms. They are aware of the importance of biosecurity for increased farm productivity and profitability. “Poultry farmers and the livestock industry are playing an important role in providing solutions to control antimicrobial resistance by implementing Good Farming Practices (GFP) and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). The effect of simple 3-zone biosecurity implementation is to reduce the use of antimicrobials on farms” said James McGrane, FAO ECTAD Team Leader. The main requirement for obtaining an NKV certificate, is that a layer farm should apply improved 3-zone biosecurity practices, which has resulted in 14 new Lampung farm certifications in the past year. The successful Lampung programme can be used as a model to expand GFP to other provinces in Indonesia.

Control AMR/AMU

“Since 2016, the Directorate General of Livestock and Animal Health Services has held a series of WAAW celebrations in various parts of Indonesia in collaboration with FAO. We have also conducted AMR surveillance on broiler and layer farms in West Java, Central Java and East Java provinces, with the support of DGLAHS laboratories. All of these activities aim to control and reduce AMR, as it is predicted that global deaths resulting from AMR will reach 10 million people per year by 2050 if we do nothing from now on” said Syamsul Ma’arif Director of Veterinary Public Health.

The main purpose of improving poultry health and reducing use of antibiotics in poultry farming is to provide safe food for human consumption. The Government NKV layer farm certificate is a guarantee of safe poultry products to the consumer. The MURI record of NKV certificates in Lampung is a recognition and an appreciation of the hard work of all parties involved in these activities. Moreover, activities to increase farm biosecurity, improve flock vaccination and reduce use of antibiotics could be a first step to promote an active antimicrobial stewardship program, which could be replicated to other key poultry production areas in Indonesia.