CONSTRUCTION work on infrastructures for the Pig Farming Area (PFA) in Selangau near Sibu is expected to commence by the third quarter of this year.
Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said that to date the Department of Veterinary Services Sarawak has appointed an anchor company for the development of PFA Selangau.
“The swine industry is another major export earner for Sarawak. Since 2017, PFA Pasir Puteh has exported over 350,000 porkers worth RM312 million with a weekly of 2,500 live pigs to Singapore.
“In view of the huge demand, the government has allocated RM27 million to develop new PFA,” said Dr Rundi when delivering his Ministerial winding-up speech at Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on Tuesday.
He added that his ministry was also promoting the development of Modern Pig Farm (MPF) in other areas.
“A private company has started to develop a MPF in Ensengei, Serian with an area of 519 acres. The total capacity for this MPF is 50,000 standing pig population (SPP).
“By 2030, PFA Pasir Puteh should have 250,000 SPP, MPF Ensengei – 50,000 SPP and PFA Selangau – 125,000 SPP,” said Dr Rundi.
These MPFs should have 425,000 standing pig population (SPP) and projected to produce 850,000 porkers annually worth RM1.5 billion inclusive of RM0.75 billion export value.
Meanwhile, in the effort to develop high-value food crop industry, Dr Rundi said the Ministry has declared Sebuyau District as a Coconut-Belt and Bau-Padawan area as Coffee-Belt to be the production hub for coconut and coffee respectively.
“This is to ensure sufficient supply of raw materials for downstream industries of both food crops,” he added.
He said for the Coconut-Belt, Sarawak Government in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) will establish an Agro Research Lab in Sebuyau and planting of high-yielding coconut varieties.
“The Government has approved RM34.42 million for this purpose.
“Meanwhile, for the Coffee-Belt, the government has approved RM2.72 million for the planting of 228 hectares of coffee in Bau and Padawan areas since 2021,” he said.
