April 20, 2007

Malaysia identifies 36, 700 hectares of land for aquaculture

Malaysia's Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry has identified 61 areas covering 36,743 hectares suitable for aquaculture projects nationwide.

Parliamentary Secretary to the ministry Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim said a total of 20,822.4 hectares had been approved by the state executive councils for zoning into aquaculture areas under the Aquaculture Industrial Zone (ZIA).

The state of Pahang, with 10,551 hectares allotted, is to be the state with the largest allotment. This was followed by the state of Selangor with 9,245 hectares.

Nearly 16,000 hectares in the country are still awaiting approval, she said.

Rohani said projects would adopt uniform operating procedures to ensure best practice in agriculture.