Nafas, Angkasa can help govt tackle chicken price, food supply issues - PM

KUALA LUMPUR - The National Farmers’ Association (Nafas) and Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (Angkasa) are capable of helping the government to tackle the problem of chicken price hikes and food supply, said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The prime minister said Nafas and Angkasa’s proactive move to be involved in the chicken industry ecosystem could help to stabilise the supply and prices of chicken in the market for the well-being of Keluarga Malaysia.

"Nafas and Angkasa will be involved in the chicken industry ecosystem, beginning from chicks, poultry feed, vaccines, chicken coops, processing centres, cold rooms, logistics, distribution and marketing centres until supplies reach consumers.

"Nafas is targeting to control 20 per cent of the market by producing 144 million birds a year, while ANGKASA 30 million birds a year,” he said in a statement today.

He issued the statement after meeting the boards of NAFAS and ANGKASA this morning to discuss steps to ensure food security for the country.

Apart from this, Ismail Sabri said Nafas and Angkasa would be more proactive in the grain corn planting industry to reduce the country's dependence on imported raw materials for chicken feed.

For this purpose, Nafas has identified sites covering 12,140 hectares in Kelantan and Terengganu previously planted with tobacco for conversion to grain corn cultivation.

Angkasa together with the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry has identified 4,000 hectares of land throughout the country for grain corn cultivation with a yield of five tonnes per hectare, to meet 20 per cent of the country's grain corn import requirements in the next five years.

"These big-scale efforts by Nafas and Angkasa should be able to reduce the country's dependence on grain corn used for chicken feed. This is because Nafas has one million members while Angkasa has seven million members through 14,835 cooperatives.

"In fact, Angkasa has been asked to lead the cooperatives sector in tackling the rising cost of living.

"The government welcomes the initiatives of Nafas and Angkasa to be involved in a significant way in the chicken rearing industry. This is in line with the recommendation of the Economic Action Council (EAC) for public-private sector cooperation to be strengthened to increase agricultural output, especially in the chicken industry,” he added. - BERNAMA