July 28, 2022

Malaysian consumers association calls for long-term plan to address poultry shortage

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has urged the Malaysian government to focus on methods to lower poultry input costs instead of importing frozen chicken, to address a poultry shortage in the country, The Edge reported.

Mohideen Abdul Kader, president of CAP, said local universities have conducted research on converting palm oil waste to livestock feed.

He said that the cost of feed accounts for about 70% of the cost of producing chicken and eggs, adding that the government should consult with academics and business professionals to determine how they can help solve the issue.

Mohideen drew attention to the fact that the Selangor state government had declared that it would be implementing a novel approach to animal feed production that had been investigated by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia two years prior.

He said with the new approach, the cost of producing chicken feed may drop from the current MYR 1.70 (~US$0.38; MYR 1 = US$0.22) to just MYR 0.70 (~US$0.16)

Mohideen said this would result in a 60% cost reduction and in the state of Kedah, the technique for producing feed has been put into practise.

Since the nation urgently needs to increase its food security, he said, it does not make sense why the government must consider importing frozen chicken when it is supposed to identify and develop long-term solutions.

-      The Edge