PUTRAJAYA – The National Recovery Council (NRC) is of the view that there is an urgent need to strengthen the feed industry so that the country achieves self-sufficiency, and the cost of feed input is more manageable and not affected by external factors, said its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin said the country was facing rising chicken prices as almost 100% of its animal feed was imported, and supply disruptions in the global chain had caused prices to increase by several times.
“That is why one of the solutions depends on whether Malaysia can produce its own feed that does not depend on 100% imports.
“The NRC is of the view that it may be appropriate for the government to review the import policy of animal feed, and put effort into producing some of the materials in the country,” he said in a press conference here today.
Muhyiddin said the move required a policy decision, for example, at the level of government-linked companies that had land planted with oil palm, so that part of the area was used for maize cultivation, especially during the replanting period.
He said the move would be appropriate for Malaysia to not be 100% dependent and thus reduce animal feed imports in the future.
Muhyiddin added that the move also needed to be expedited, as the experience of dependence on feed supplies from abroad showed that it was an inaccurate policy.
He said 500 million coconuts were still being imported, while the country had old coconut plantations that could be redeveloped, as the need for coconut supply was increasing daily. – Bernama, June 14, 2022
