BALINGIAN, Feb 16 — The state government has identified two sites for large scale modern pig farming to meet the growing demands from other countries including from Singapore, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said.
He said the two sites are located in Kelawit, near here, with an area of 500 hectares and Samarakan, Bintulu with a size of 1,000 hectares.
“The development of these sites will be done by private investors in collaboration with established pig farm companies,” he said at a dialogue held with local communities at a longhouse at Sungai Arip, last night.
Uggah, who is also the state Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, said modern pig farming can be a big business for the state.
He said last year the state exported over RM80million worth of pig and pork products to Singapore.
“We are now exporting 1,200 live pigs every week to Singapore which has told us it wants more,”he said, adding that the industry has still more room for expansion.
He said the state’s first modern pig farm on a 804-hectare site in Pasir Putih in Simunjan has a population of over 50,000 pigs at the moment.
Uggah said Sarawak is still free of the Foot and Mouth Disease and the African Swine Fever which has affected many countries in Asia.
“This is our big advantage, and we still have plenty of land,” he said.
Uggah also noted that there is a shortage of piglets to be distributed to longhouse folks who have applied to the Agriculture Department to do their own rearing.
“We want to train some locals in artificial insemination to overcome this shortage,” he said.