March 28, 2022

 

Malaysia aims to boost its poultry sector through domestic corn production

 

 

Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee, Malaysia's Agriculture and Food Industries Minister said there are plans to increase domestic corn production to boost the local poultry industry, in order to address soaring chicken prices, The Star Malaysia reported.

 

He said the ministry is discussing the proposal but are not close to announcing a national corn policy. The government aims to grow industrial corn for livestock feed.

 

Data from Malaysia's Veterinary Services Department showed importers could only meet part of the frozen chicken shortage in the country, with domestic chicken output at 61.1 million birds as of December 2021 compared to the 62.9 million birds that are required.

 

Datuk Dr Mohamad Zabawi Abdul Ghani, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) director-general said increasing domestic corn production can offset imported grains for livestock feed but variants need to be chosen that are suited for Malaysia's weather.

 

He said they are evaluating several commercially available cultivars from Argentina as it could take up to seven years to do their own cross breeding.

 

Mohamad Zabawi said growing domestic corn means livestock breeders will not be affected by imported inflation and reduce dependence on soybean.

 

He said MARDI may tap into microbiology to enable better digestion of difficult-to-digest materials such as lignin, adding that by 2023, it could develop a suitable formulation of blending microbes with raw materials to produce more digestible livestock feed.

 

The new blend may cut down on corn and soy imports.

 

Mohamad Zabawi said optimising livestock feed with the use of domestic resources will shield the country from price shocks from imported components for livestock feed and proves that expansion of corn cultivation in the country is beneficial.

 

Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah, Deputy Agriculture and Food Industries Minister I, said high demand for chicken in the country has outstripped demand. He said Malaysia needs 2.09 million chickens daily or 3,762 metric tonnes or 62.9 million birds monthly.

 

-      The Star Malaysia