Malaysia’s Selangor state government is expected to start its corn cultivation project in May to produce chicken feed in an effort to overcome the drastic price hike of the commodity. An initial investment of RM3 million (US$686,000) will be allocated for the project.
State Infrastructure, Public Utilities, Modernisation of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Committee Chairman, Izham Hashim said this project under the Intervensi Ehsan (Compassionate Intervention) Programme of the Selangor Agriculture Development Corporation (SADC) will be carried out on 121 hectares (300 acres) of land in Selangor and 162 hectares (400 acres) in Negeri Sembilan.
Izham said this effort is aimed at reducing the dependence on imported chicken feed, particularly corn, with the price now ridiculously reaching billions of ringgit (dollars).
Izham said, “The SADC has managed to get a company with the experience of growing corn to produce chicken feed. We will see how this could contribute to stabilising the price of chicken feed, especially in Selangor. We hope this project can be implemented soon towards resolving the chicken feed price increase, not just stabilising the price but also reducing it. If this project is successful, Selangor could be the initiator in corn production for chicken feed.”
