Supply of chicken, eggs to stabilise in 4 months - minister

 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (Mafi) expects the supply of chickens and eggs to stabilise in the next four months to meet domestic demand following various incentives and subsidies provided to industry players especially poultry farmers.

Its minister, Ronald Kiandee, said the incentives and subsidies would ease the industry players’ burden in the face of rising costs including raw materials.

He said a new subsidy was announced last week which is being arranged with the industry, adding that the government has listened to the problems faced by players in the industry.

“…(the government) has taken action to cover some of the implications of the increase in the cost of producing the country's food supply.

"We give it four months, (farming) chickens takes 30 to 40 days, so it needs to take some time (for the supply to stabilise)," he told reporters after attending the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority’s Emergency Response Support Team (CDERT Fama) training programme which was launched by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Abd Latiff Ahmad here today.

On Feb 9, the government had agreed to provide a subsidy of 60 sen per kilogramme (kg) to poultry farmers, by taking into account the farm-level price of live chickens at RM5.90 per kg and the retail price of standard chicken at RM8.90 per kg and a five sen subsidy for each egg from all categories until June 4.

He said the ministry had also organised engagement sessions with entrepreneurs and farmers after the subsidy announcement with them giving assurances to increase the production capacity of chicken and egg supplies as usual to meet domestic demands.

In the meantime, Ronald reiterated that the government’s move to allow the import of whole chickens was temporary to address the issue of supply shortage in the country until it stabilises.

In another development, Ronald said Mafi’s efforts to implement CDERT through Fama was timely and in line with the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia that the responsibility in dealing with disasters did not lie solely with enforcement teams.

He said Fama is entrusted to provide trained personnel to help prepare food kits for the National Disaster Management Agency during disasters to be distributed to target groups.

"This training is also one of the elements that can improve the quality of delivery of Fama’s role as an implementing agency in strengthening food security during crises and disasters," he said.

-Bernama