COVID-19 teaches Malaysia to raise meat self-sufficiency level

The COVID-19 pandemic that has paralysed nearly every industry in the world has taught Malaysia to work hard to raise the level of self-sufficiency in local meat production.

Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said such hard work was necessary as Malaysia still relied heavily on other countries such as Australia, India and Brazil to supply meat and dairy to the local market.

"So at the ministry level, we are thinking of the best way to increase our self-sufficiency level (SSL) in order to raise the production of livestock for local use.

"To achieve this, we have set up the Cabinet Committee on Food Security comprising industry players, and appointing 12 advisers (the National Agriculture Advisory Council) to hear the industry's recommendations and proposals on livestock as well as meat and dairy production," he told reporters after visiting the Kluang Modern Agriculture Project (PPM) here today.

He said the Kluang PPM is a large-scale project that runs integrated agricultural activities under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MOA).

"It has been developed since 2004 with a total area of 9,027 acres (3,653 hectares) and to date, 27 participants have been engaged in various agricultural activities including crops, aquaculture and agro-tourism," he said.

Kiandee said from 2016 to 2019, the PPM's average total production was RM78.19 million, below the target of RM100 million in production per annum.

To ensure the project achieves its goals, he said the ministry would re-evaluate PPM to ensure it remained relevant in line with the latest technological developments in the agriculture sector.

-- BERNAMA