Sarawak is focusing On Integrated Cattle Farming

06/06/2014 (Bernama) - In an effort to increase the cattle population, the Sarawak government is focusing on cattle integration in oil palm plantations, said Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem.

He said of Sarawak's over 1.0 million hectares of land under oil palm, some 400,000 hectares are suitable for cattle integration projects, yet only about 80,000 hectares are used for this purpose, with only about 10,500 heads of cattle in oil palm estates.

"Assuming that five hectares can support one head of adult cattle for one year, oil palm plantations in Sarawak have the potential to support more than 80,000 heads of cattle.

"If all oil palm plantations practise this integrated farming, maybe Sarawak can be a net exporter of beef," he said in his speech, read by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, when opening the 1st Asean Regional Conference on Animal Production here Thursday.

Adenan said this system of production has associated problems such as labour cost, forage production and soil compaction, but these can be solved with the presence of brilliant scientists and agriculturists in Malaysia.

He said growing grain crops for feed may not be feasible when land is limited, but agricultural wastes may be an option, adding that the by-products from palm oil mills and other agricultural activities can be converted to animal feed.

Adenan said the state's livestock industry is growing in line with the federal government's livestock development strategies, pointing out that the state is self-sufficient in poultry and swine products, with quite a number of large poultry broiler and layer farms around Kuching, Sibu and Miri.

Sarawak's poultry and swine industries are well developed and do not depend much on government support, although the state still imports beef, milk and milk products as well as live animals for breeding, he said.

Adenan said the government has embarked on programmes to increase the goat population through schemes involving smallholders, adding the state, being free of foot and mouth disease, rabies and avian influenza, has the potential to be a centre for animal breeding and production in Malaysia.