Sufficient food supply throughout Ramadan, hari raya - JPV

JASIN: The supply of meat, milk, poultry and eggs in the country is guaranteed to be sufficient, not only to meet consumer demand during Ramadan but also for Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Aidiladha.

Veterinary Services Department (JPV) director-general Datuk Dr Norlizan Mohd Noor said since January this year, importers had obtained a lot of frozen meat supplies, namely buffalo from India and beef from Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

He said the importation of beef and buffalo meat from abroad still played an important role as Malaysia still relied on imported sources to ensure continued supply.

"In addition, we have a committee that monitors this matter and God-willing, the supply is sufficient and can meet consumer needs not only during the month of Ramadan and Syawal but also for the next two months.

"For example, there are also some cattle farmers who have stocked up on sacrificial cows some three to four months in advance, so consumers do not have to worry," he told Bernama, here.

Elaborating, Norlizan said to ensure food security such as for meat, around 210,000 metric tonnes of cows and buffaloes are needed a year to meet consumer needs.

He said, however, for local meat production, the country was only able to produce 46,000 metric tonnes or about 22 per cent last year, from livestock resources available in the country.

He added that JPV had formulated various programmes and efforts to increase the country's meat production, including the "Beef Plan" since 2019, apart from working closely with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI).

"There are four main activities carried out in the farming programme namely feedlot; integrated farming such as the Kedah-Kelantan Elite (KK Elite) cattle breed; conventional farming namely small-scale and independent farming; and dairy contribution.

"In the 12th Malaysia Plan, we have developed many schemes to increase beef cattle production and aim to achieve 30 per cent by 2025," he added.

-- BERNAMA