March 28, 2011
 

Malaysian city's earnings from poultry export increase last year

Melaka, a city from Malaysia, earned MYR1.55 billion (US$511.9 million) in the previous year from the poultry industry.

The export of chicken and chicken-based products made up 86% of earnings.

Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, said last year's output was 78% more than the MYR874.05 million (US$288.7 million) earned by the industry in 2005.

Melaka is the largest producer of chicken eggs in Malaysia with a daily output of 7.5 million and it also exports chicken meat and eggs to Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Timor Leste, he said at the national-level free-zone awareness campaign for newcastle disease in Merlimau.

Mohd Ali also added that Melaka exports day-old chicks to Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Brunei and the Philippines as such the awareness programme was vital to ensure chicken-based products in Melaka were disease-free and of high-quality.

He also said that chickens raised in the backyard and villages were normally not confined in cages so they must be vaccinated or risk contracting the bird flu and newcastle disease.