Dr Rahman gives the thumbs-up for a massive buffalo during the field visit.
MIRI: Sarawak will take a leaf from India’s buffalo industry as it is impressed by its success and emphasis on technology, services and research and development (R&D).
Besides that, it welcomes the interest expressed by a top Indian international company to explore areas of collaboration in the state.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail said this at the end of his working visit to India from Dec 5 to 11 to study the buffalo industry there with a delegation from the state.
He was leading a state delegation comprising Deputy State Secretary (Socio-Economic Transformation) Datu Ismawi Ismuni; Consul-General of Malaysia in Mumbai, India Zainl Azalan Mohdnadzir; Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development deputy permanent secretary Paul Vincent Ritom and Veterinary Services Department Sarawak director Dr Adrian Susin Ambud.
He said the observations they made during the study tour would help them formulate a plan for the state’s buffalo industry.
The delegation visited Allanason Private Limited Headquarters in Mumbai, a conglomerate with global operation that markets a wide range of products.
The company was founded in 1865 and produces, sells and exports processed food and agriculture products. It offers a range of meat products, including frozen halal boneless buffalo meat, frozen mutton, frozen canned meat, ready to cook products, and vacuum packed chilled meat.
Dr Abdul Rahman said Allanason had expressed interest in investing in Sarawak in both downstream and upstream activities in the food industry, especially in cattle and beef production.
“We are happy to hear that Allanason is keen to collaborate with Sarawak to explore business potential in the cattle and buffalo meat industry including dairy buffalo,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Among the places they visited were Department of Animal Husbandry of the Government of Maharashtra Gokhale Nagar in Mumbai, where they were briefed on the whole supply chain starting from farm production to marketing, including wholesomeness and safety of buffalo products.
After that, the group proceeded to Aurangabad, a district in Maharashta state that has the largest buffalo population in India and which is certified FMD (Foot Mouth Disease) free.
According to Dr Abdul Rahman, the buffalo beef farming there is dominated by small herders who own three to five buffaloes and a small number of feedlot entrepreneurs with herd size of about 50 buffaloes.
The delegation also visited the Frigorifico Allana abattoir and meat processing factory which has a production capacity of 1,800 buffaloes per day.
Dr Abdul Rahman said the dairy buffalo industry is also dominated by small herders who organise themselves in a village cooperative and send the milk to four chilling centres that serve an area of 30 km in radius.
From the chilling centre, the milk is sent to a milk processing factory where it is pasteurised, processed and packed as fresh milk, yogurt and butter milk.
“The retail price of milk is half the price in Sarawak,” he said.
The development of the buffalo industry in India is made possible with strong R&D in breeding through artificial insemination.
The delegation also visited the centre for the production of frozen semen which is sold to the buffalo farmers at a subsidised rate.