KUCHING: The government is encouraging the state’s oil palm planters to integrate their crops with ruminant farming to increase beef and mutton production for local consumption.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture (Research and Marketing) Datuk Mong Dagang said the state has so far only managed to produce less than 10 per cent of the beef required for the local market.
“So far our state is still heavily relying on imported beef and even mutton so in terms of cattle and goat rearing there is really a lot to be done.
“As such the government is encouraging oil palm planters to integrate their crops with cattle and goat farming. So far the response is quite encouraging where now we already have 10,000 heads of cattle under this programme,” he told a press conference after opening a one-day seminar organised by the Agriculture Department’s Agriculture Research Centre (ARC) yesterday.
He said the state is also not self-sufficient in rice production, with 47 per cent imported mainly from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
“At the moment, we are self-sufficient for chicken, eggs and pork. Now that we have big pig farms in Pasir Putih, we have more than enough supply and we hope one day we are able to export our pork to Singapore,” he said.
Mong, who represented Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, said as much as the state wished to be self-sufficient in all types of food, it is unable to do so due to climate constraints.
“For instance we don’t face any problem with local fruits and vegetables, we are self-sufficient. However, we still import sub-tropical and temperate fruits because we can’t produce them here but of course fruits and vegetables are not our real concern,” he said.