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The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities will
increase efforts to promote the use of palm kernel waste as animal feed to
ensure a more sustainable supply of poultry in the long run.
Its minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said that one of the reasons
for the increase in the price of chicken is the high price of chicken feed. It
is reported that chicken feed has increased from RM 500 to RM 1900 per tonne in
some cases.
“As a result, chickens are being fed less, causing them to
grow slower than normal, in the process restricting the supply of the birds,”
she said in a statement. “Malaysia imports most of its chicken feed, which is
mostly made of grain like corn and soybean.”
She said these items were facing a worldwide shortage due to the war in Ukraine and uncertain weather patterns. Zuraida said Malaysia’s oil palm plantations produced huge supplies of palm kernel waste.
Research has shown that feeding fermented palm kernel cake
and high dietary fat to broilers can be a good substitute for the imported feed,
which almost all commercial chicken farms use today. “The ministry will hold
discussions with other stakeholders to review our export policy on palm kernel
cake in favor of local broilers,” she said.
She said this product was mostly being exported for the
European cattle industry. The ministry will work with the relevant agencies,
government-linked companies and state governments to urgently look into how it
can quickly ensure the availability of palm kernel waste as animal feed for the
Malaysian poultry industry.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yacob recently announced that
exports of whole chicken would be banned from June 1, while import permits for
chicken and wheat would be abolished as part of measures to stem a chicken
shortage.
A buffer stock for chicken will also be created and the
government is to make optimum use of cold storage facilities of the agriculture
and food industries ministry and its agencies.
|Source: Online/MA
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