Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): FGV Holdings Bhd is venturing into "ayam kampung" or native chicken feed production from rice byproducts, under a collaboration with Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), to reduce Malaysia's dependence on imported chicken feed and cut prices of the product in the country.

Bernas is the custodian of the Malaysian rice industry. Native chicken is commonly known as "ayam kampung" in Malay.

"FGV has produced chicken feed before, but this would be a special formulation for native chicken feed. Normal chicken and native chicken have different growth rates, so this special formulation in collaboration with Bernas using their byproducts is the first in the market," oil palm planter FGV said in a WhatsApp response to The Edge's query.

The Edge earlier wrote to FGV to confirm whether the company's native chicken feed production venture, as published in a statement on Monday (Aug 8), is the group's first time getting involved in chicken feed manufacturing.

In the statement, FGV said that with the production of nutritious native chicken feed, Malaysia will be able to reduce its dependency on imported chicken feed and, ultimately, ensure the availability of such products at a reduced price.

"FGV, via its wholly-owned subsidiary FGV Integrated Farming Sdn Bhd (FGVIF), today (Monday) launched high-quality native chicken feed brand ALMA as part of FGV’s initiatives in responding to the Government’s call, and contributing towards the National Food Security Agenda and National Agrofood Policy 2.0.

"The launching ceremony was held at the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism 2022 Exhibition (MAHA 2022) in Serdang, officiated by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed," FGV said.

FGV said the new formulation of chicken feed uses byproducts from local paddy and rice factories.

According to the company, the collaboration is in line with the “waste-to-wealth” initiative, which has been practised by Bernas.

"This initiative is expected to reduce approximately 10% of production cost due to substitution of imported grain corn components.

"A total of 30,000 metric tons per year of [rice] byproduct materials will be used to produce ALMA native chicken feed," FGV said.

Besides native chicken feed, FGV said the company had launched a range of ALMA-branded animal feed products for cow, goat and sheep.

The company noted that Malaysia currently produces approximately eight million native chickens annually, and almost 10% of the production is exported to Singapore, while the rest is distributed mainly in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang.

"The [chicken] feed supply potential for this industry is expected to reach 32,000 metric tons per year.

"To boost the supply and ensure the availability of native chicken supply in the market, FGV has been proactively leading Projek Pembangunan Peneroka under the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), and Program Pembasmian Kemiskinan Tegar Keluarga Malaysia under the contract farming arrangement.

"In conjunction with the launch, FGV also announced its fresh native chicken product, marketed under the brand Ladang’57, that will be available at AEON BiG hypermarkets nationwide. AEON BiG is one of FGV’s marketing and distribution partners that help to make the National Food Security Agenda a success," FGV said.

FGV is a subsidiary of Felda. Felda's Projek Pembangunan Peneroka is also known as the Settlers Development Project.

Meanwhile, Program Pembasmian Kemiskinan Tegar Keluarga Malaysia is also known as the Malaysia Family Hardcore Poor Eradication Programme.

According to FGV's statement, the company as well as Bernas, Felda and AEON BiG, as players of the synergistic collaboration, aspire to help strengthen Malaysia's National Food Security Agenda by supporting the local animal feed industry to remain self-sufficient, and to become more sustainable in the future.

FGV group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nazrul Izam Mansor said in the statement that the partnership is aligned with FGV's vision to become one of the world’s leading integrated and sustainable agribusinesses.

"The collaboration will further expand our animal feed and poultry businesses,” Mohd Nazrul added.

Bernas group managing director Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan said in the statement that the collaboration with FGVIF in animal feed production is Bernas' contribution to Malaysia’s food security, and it adds value to byproducts from paddy processing.

"Working together, we aim to offer high-quality animal feed at affordable prices to ensure the cost of chicken and meat is within reasonable levels,” Haris Fadzilah added.

Meanwhile, AEON BiG (M) Sdn Bhd managing director Sheikh Farouk Sheikh Mohamed said in the statement that the collaboration with FGVIF and Felda's Settlers Development Project will give local farmers more opportunities to participate in schemes that aim to elevate the Malaysian economy.

"This cooperation is aligned with AEON BiG’s goal to help local farmers to market their products and, at the same time, we can ensure basic necessities such as fresh chicken can be supplied to consumers,” Sheikh Farouk added.

FGV closed unchanged at RM1.51 on Bursa Malaysia on Monday, giving the group a market capitalisation of about RM5.51 billion.

FGV has 3.65 billion outstanding shares, according to its latest quarterly financial report.

Edited ByChong Jin Hun
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