GEORGE TOWN – The utilisation of the black soldier fly (BSF) is the key to solving the poultry shortage, pollution and heaping landfill waste, the Penang State Assembly sitting heard today.
Agriculture, Agro-based Industries, Rural Development and Health exco Dr Norlela Ariffin suggested this during her rounding-up speech today, addressing the dire issue of food security and the poultry shortage.
“There are several solutions but one of the primary solutions is to look at replacing livestock feed.
“Livestock needs protein, and one of the ways for them to get high-quality protein is through the larvae of black soldier flies.
“They feed on hydrolysed organic rubbish and this also helps us reduce the dumping of waste into the landfill that has the potential to cause fires,” she said.
While the federal government and even city councils have been looking into subsidies or soft loans for farmers to increase their produce and reduce wastage, she opined that alternative solutions are the way to go.
With feed generated from unwanted material discarded by the tonnes, Norlela said the state can “kill two birds with one stone” using this method as proposed by small livestock breeders in the state.
She said that most of the breeders have already started utilising BSFs to feed their chickens and fish, and do not need to rely on food sources imported from Russia, which amounted to 25% of their operating costs.
“We have had commercial companies interested in taking up the organic waste that stems from dead animals and organic waste from factories and restaurants to hydrolyse them before they are used to feed BSF.
“When this happens, we see that there is no cost incurred to the government, and yet, we solve our food shortage and waste issues at landfills in Pulau Burung.
“Singapore has already done it, Selangor is doing it, why not Penang?” she questioned.
Prices on present chicken feed have experienced a 36.4% increase from pre-Covid-19 times to May, this year.
It used to cost RM110 per 50kg, but the price has since hiked from merely RM40 to RM150 per bag.
Instead of using corn as livestock feed, which is expected to increase in price from RM1,800 to RM3,000 per metric tonne, Dr Norlela suggested utilising crushed rice, as well as rice bran, which is a byproduct of polished rice.
Additionally, she also suggested the use of tapioca and papaya leaves to solve the food shortage caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the lack of manpower in the agricultural industry. – The Vibes, June 1, 2022
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