Tuesday, 30 November 2010 14:07
KUALA LUMPUR: A ruminant breeder from Mukah and a livestock entrepreneur from Kuching-Serian Road were among award winners at the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro-tourism Show (MAHA) 2010 launched by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) last Saturday.
The two bagged for the first time, the National Awards for Successful Ruminant Ent repreneur and the Successful Non-Ruminant Entrepreneur Categories, respectively.
Hajah Fatimah bint i Suhaibo, who is the manager of FG Multifarm received her award as the National winner in the Successful Ruminant Entrepreneur category for her success as the entrepreneur for a goat and cattle farm, FG Multifarm at Km28, Mukah- Balingian coastal highway.
Her farm holds around 1,800 heads of various breeds of goats, sheep and cattle at its peak, and currently supplies domestic demands, and have also made exports of live animals to Brunei.
In addition, FG Multifarm also processes solid and liquid fertilisers from animal wastes from the farm. This helps the farm to practice ‘zero waste’ farming with active local inputs to manage costs.
The farm also formulates its own animal feed from local resources and maize.
Maize is planted by Mukah Agro Farm of which Hajah Fatimah is the Chairman and CEO.
Mukah Agro Farm applies the concept of contract farming in developing ‘idle’ land in Mukah.
It is able to do this by focusing on the hardcore poor who are listed in the e-kasih programme, with the help of TEKUN.
In addition, the farm also provides employment to single mothers in the processing of farm products before they are dispatched to the market.
Both FG Multifarm and Mukah Agro Farm offer attachment training to local entrepreneurs, university students and the Semenggok Agriculture Institute.
Hajah Fatimah also won in the state-level Small Ruminant Category at the state-level Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen’s Day (HPPN) held at Betong recently.
In the same event, Sarawak’s premier livestock breeder, Dr Ng Siew Thiam from QL Livestock Farming Sdn Bhd, Kuching, won the National level Successful Non-ruminant category.
Ng is the Executive Director of QL Livestock Farming, a 90- acre farm at Mile 25, Kuching- Serian Road.
The farm has more than 600,000 chickens and produces around 400,000 eggs daily.
The farm is fully automated.
The farm’s products are supplied to the local market and exported to Indonesia and Hong Kong.
The farm also produces its own animal feed from maize grains imported from India, Argentina and Thailand and employs 180 workers.
Ng expressed interest in buying locally produced maize of which his co-winner Hajah Fatimah Suhaibo is a leading producer in Sarawak.
The farm also offers attachment training to livestock breeders, university students and local entrepreneurs.
Ng was also a winner in a similar category at the state-level Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen’s Day held at Betong recently.
