THE state government is planning to diversify the making of buffalo-based products.
Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail added the state government had identified potential products such as Mozarella cheese to be developed as one of the buffalo-based products.
“A local company in Lawas has been identified to lead the development of the cheese-making industry,” he said.
Abdul Rahman (PBB-Bukit Kota) was replying to Paulus Palu Gumbang (PBB-Batu Danau) during the DUN sitting on Monday (Nov 9).
To ensure sustainability of the downstream buffalo industry, Abdul Rahman said the Sarawak Veterinary Department was planning to increase buffalo populations in Northern Sarawak.
“One of the initiatives include developing the Maragang Buffalo Station in Lawas as a buffalo research and reproduction centre under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
“The station will also serve as a collecting, processing and packaging centre (CPCC) for downstream products,” he added.
Responding to additional questions, Abdul Rahman said some of the suitable and high-quality types of buffalo included the domestic water buffalo originating from India.
“This buffalo has the potential to provide 10 to 16 litres of milk per day while the swamp buffalo in our country can only produce three to five litres per day.
“This is why we plan to increase the number of buffaloes that are able to produce a high amount of milk through artificial insemination of these two types of buffalo at the Maragang Buffalo Station,” he revealed.
He added that the state government also aimed to increase the buffalo population in the state to 20,000 by the year 2030.
“Currently, there are 6,558 heads of buffalo in the state compared to only 5,500 heads two years ago.
“There are 478 buffalo farmers in the state and we will assist these farmers to increase the buffalo population through various programmes such as the buffalo entrepreneur programme, livestock commercial unit programme and the buffalo ‘halaman’ fencing rehabilitation programme,” he added.
