KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): The federal government is looking to incentivise poultry farmers who use palm oil production waste as a supplement to animal feed, in a bid to reduce reliance on imported stock feed.
Poultry farmers could receive production-based incentives if they incorporate 5% to 10% of palm oil production waste into their feed, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said.
"We want to encourage the use of these waste materials as a supplement to imported feed like corn and soybeans. If widely adopted, this approach could significantly cut the reliance on imported feed," Johari said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
He was responding to a question from Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli (Perikatan Nasional-Dungun) about government efforts to boost domestic animal feed production and reduce dependency on imports.
Malaysia is among the most import-reliant countries in Southeast Asia for animal feed. In 2022, Malaysia imported more than five million tonnes of corn and soybean products from countries like Brazil and Argentina to feed poultry and other livestock.
Meanwhile, Johari added that the biomass industry, driven by the agri-commodity sector based on oil palm waste, is expected to generate RM17 billion in economic value and RM7 billion in investments by 2030.
This initiative is also expected to create approximately 33,000 new jobs by 2030 across sectors like bio-pellet production, biomass energy generation, pulp and paper, treated carbon, and bio-fertiliser production, he noted.