PADANG BESAR, May 11 — The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (Mafi) has set a target to reduce livestock feed imports by 30 per cent by the year 2030 through its Grain Corn Industry Development Project.
Mafi deputy secretary-general (Development) Datuk Badrul Hisham Mohd said presently, Malaysia imports about four million matrix tonnes of grain corn valued at about RM6.2 billion a year.
For the ministry to achieve the target, he said a large area of land was needed to plant corn which was seen to be a new source of wealth for industry players in the country.
“Right now we are working to bring together major commodity industry players to be equally involved in this crop.
"We are also discussing with palm oil industry players so that they can allocate 10 per cent of their land to plant maize,” Badrul Hisham said after conducting a walkabout in Lembah Chuping here today.
He added there is a need for the government to find a new formula to overcome the country’s high dependence on grain maize imports.
"To realise this, the government cannot be alone and that is why we need to bring industry players together to be involved in the cultivation of this grain maize," Badrul Hisham said.
He said efforts to reduce dependence on the import of grain maize began in 2015 and would take at least 15 years through three phases of implementation.
According to Badrul Hisham, a long period is needed to enable research and studies to be done with stakeholders to create a stable industry.
“We are now at the end of the pilot phase for five years starting 2015 until 2022 and after that will move on to the consolidation and expansion phase.
"During this period, we evaluate various aspects that need to be considered, including cultivation methods, appropriate use of seeds, the weather, quality control and others,” he said.
Badrul Hisham said if the government could resolve the issue of supply for livestock feed, the people would definitely benefit and at the same time reduce spending on subsidies.
— Bernama
