Dr Rahman Ismail (left) arrives for the DUN Sitting with Deputy Minister of Utilities and Telecommunications Datuk Liwan Lagang at DUN Sarawak, today. - Picture by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING: The Ministry of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development has set a target to increase the self-sufficiency level for ruminant livestock in Sarawak from 15 percent to 25 percent in 2030.
Deputy Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail said to achieve this target, the ruminant livestock population needs to be increased to 158,750 which consists of 60,000 cattle, 20,000 buffalo and 78,750 goats and sheep.
"The ruminant livestock population as of 2024 is around 35,000 compared to 32,000 in 2023.
"This increase of 3,000 animals has given my ministry the impetus to continue strengthening its efforts to develop the ruminant livestock industry.
"My ministry has also allocated RM40 million in the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK-12) to implement various programs for ruminant livestock in the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030," he said.
He said this when answering an oral question from Miro Simuh (GPS-Serembu) at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Conference, today.
When asked about the initiatives in the PCDS 2030 for ruminant livestock, Dr Rahman Ismail said that among the initiatives was to continue the ruminant livestock breeding scheme by providing high quality livestock breeds from Australia to be distributed to farmers.
This year, he said, 1,430 ruminant livestock consisting of 650 cows, 300 buffaloes, 490 sheep were received by 23 participants.
Another initiative, strengthening the integration of cattle breeding with oil palm estates where through this program the total cattle population has been increased to 13,000 so far, of which 9,750 or 75 percent are contributed by private oil palm estates and 3,250 or 25 percent by small oil palm farmers.
In addition, establishing livestock and fattening centers through the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority or SALCRA in Rimbas Betong, Mayang and Siburan, Serian and Stenggang in Bau.
Also implemented is the privatization of livestock stations in Temudok, Sri Aman for goats and sheep, Karambungan, Miri for cattle and Maragang, Lawas for buffalo.
