September 6, 2022

 

Malaysia's FGV collaborates on producing local chicken feed from rice byproducts

 

FGV Holdings Bhd is venturing into "ayam kampung", or native chicken feed production from rice byproducts, under a collaboration with Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), to reduce Malaysia's dependence on imported chicken feed and cut prices of the product in the country, The Edge Malaysia reported last month.

 

Bernas is the custodian of the Malaysian rice industry.

 

"FGV has produced chicken feed before, but this would be a special formulation for native chicken feed," FGV said. "Normal chicken and native chicken have different growth rates, so this special formulation in collaboration with Bernas using their byproducts is the first in the market."

 

In a statement, FGV said that with the production of nutritious native chicken feed, Malaysia will be able to reduce its dependency on imported chicken feed and, ultimately, ensure the availability of such products at a reduced price.

 

"FGV, via its wholly-owned subsidiary FGV Integrated Farming Sdn Bhd (FGVIF)… launched high-quality native chicken feed brand ALMA as part of FGV's initiatives in responding to the (Malaysian) government's call and contributing towards the National Food Security Agenda and National Agrofood Policy 2.0," the company said. "The launching ceremony was held at the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism 2022 Exhibition (MAHA 2022) in Serdang, officiated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed."

 

FGV added that the new formulation of chicken feed uses byproducts from local paddy and rice factories. According to the company, the collaboration is in line with the "waste-to-wealth" initiative, which has been practised by Bernas.

 

"This initiative is expected to reduce approximately 10% of production cost due to substitution of imported grain corn components," FGV said. "A total of 30,000 metric tonnes per year of [rice] byproduct materials will be used to produce ALMA native chicken feed."

 

Besides native chicken feed, FGV said the company had launched a range of ALMA-branded animal feed products for cow, goat and sheep.

 

The company noted that Malaysia currently produces approximately eight million native chickens annually, and almost 10% of the production is exported to Singapore, while the rest is distributed mainly in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang.

 

"The [chicken] feed supply potential for this industry is expected to reach 32,000 metric tonnes per year," the company said. "To boost the supply and ensure the availability of native chicken supply in the market, FGV has been proactively leading Projek Pembangunan Peneroka under the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), and Program Pembasmian Kemiskinan Tegar Keluarga Malaysia under the contract farming arrangement.

 

"In conjunction with the launch, FGV also announced its fresh native chicken product, marketed under the brand Ladang'57, that will be available at AEON BiG hypermarkets nationwide. AEON BiG is one of FGV's marketing and distribution partners that help to make the National Food Security Agenda a success."

 

According to FGV's statement, the company aspires to help strengthen Malaysia's National Food Security Agenda by supporting the local animal feed industry to remain self-sufficient and to become more sustainable in the future.

 

Bernas group managing director Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan said in a statement that the collaboration with FGVIF in animal feed production is Bernas' contribution to Malaysia's food security, and it adds value to byproducts from paddy processing.

 

"Working together, we aim to offer high-quality animal feed at affordable prices to ensure the cost of chicken and meat is within reasonable levels," Haris Fadzilah added.

 

- The Edge Malaysia