Partnership With State Govts Key To Reducing Livestock Feed Imports - Johari

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Plantation and Commodities is open to collaborating with state governments to reduce the country’s reliance on imported livestock feeds.

One of the ways that this can be done is through the production of affordable, locally-produced livestock feed using agricultural byproducts, including oil palm fronds to create local feed alternatives.

However, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani recommended that the state governments consult industry players first to ensure that new initiatives are effective and logistically feasible.

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This is because previous efforts to produce livestock feed were hindered by high costs, largely due to the remote locations of production facilities, resulting in prices of the local feed being less competitive when compared to the prices of the regular feed.

“Several plants had to close due to poor location planning. In the future, if any of the state governments wish to collaborate with the agencies under the ministry, I will definitely welcome it and be personally involved in it, but before we commit to an investment, we need to discuss it with the relevant industry players.

“We want to encourage the farmers and offer incentives if producers could use five to ten per cent of waste materials as feed supplements,” he said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

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He said this in response to the supplementary question from Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli (PN-Dungun) on the government’s efforts to reduce dependency on imported livestock feed.

Earlier on, Johari emphasised that the incorporation of the concept of circular economy in the agricultural industry will help Malaysia reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the nation’s commitment to the global sustainability agenda.

It will also enhance operational efficiency and boost the nation’s economy as outlined in the National Biomass Action Plan 2023-2030 (NBAP 2030).

Johari added that by 2030, the biomass industry is projected to contribute RM17 billion to the economy and attract RM7 billion in new investments.

This will help generate around 33,000 jobs in the industry, including in bio-pellet production, biomass energy generation, pulp and paper manufacturing, activated carbon, and biofertiliser production.

-- BERNAMA