Jakarta. The Agricultural Ministry recently announced that over 1,500 dairy cows imported from the close neighbor Australia had arrived in Indonesia as Jakarta tried to boost its milk production.

"Within two days, we managed to bring 1,573 dairy cows from Australia. These imports aim to increase our dairy cow population and support our local farmers’ productivity,” Agung Suganda, a senior official at the Agricultural Ministry, was quoted as saying by Antara.

As many as 1,088 dairy cows landed in Probolinggo’s Tanjung Tembaga port on Saturday. The imports took place in a private sector partnership involving Santosa Agrindo Lestari (Santori), a subsidiary of the agrifood giant JAPFA. The company has partnered with Greenfields Dairy Indonesia. Other enterprises involved in the cow shipments include Karya Suci Pratama, Irfai Berkah Sejahtera, Arla Food, and Koperasi Suka Makmur.

Antara wrote that 485 cows had already arrived in Banyuwangi's Tanjung Wangi Port the day before via the company Kironggo Joyo. Indonesia is planning to import 1 million dairy cows by 2029. “This is crucial if we wish to build our food security. [A bigger supply] would also help our free meal program,” Agung said, referring to President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship school lunch rollout.

The ministry revealed that Indonesia’s dairy production could only meet 21 percent of its national milk demand. The country’s annual milk consumption reaches 4.6 million tons, government data showed.

The Agricultural Ministry said that all of the imported cows had undergone stringent health protocols throughout the shipment process, including the distribution process to the respective companies and farmers.