JOHOR BARU: The price and supply of chicken in the country have stabilised with more than two million chickens produced every day starting July, says Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah.
The Deputy Agriculture and Food Industries Minister added that Malaysians, in general, consumed about 1.8 million chickens every day with a self-sufficiency level (SSL) level of 104%.
“This means that we have a surplus of chicken every day starting July 1, so we have managed to stabilise the price of chicken, including eggs.
“We also recorded a surplus of chicken eggs in the market with a recorded SSL level of 115%,” Ahmad said after attending the Road to Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro-tourism Expo (Maha) 2022 Southern Region event at Plaza Angsana Johor Baru Mall yesterday.
“We are listening to the needs of the people, but at the same time, we also need to engage with our industry players because, currently, they are facing the issue of rising cost of poultry feed,” he added.
Asked to comment on issues of overweight chickens in the market, the Deputy Minister said it was actually caused by an oversupply of chicken.
“Our production capability could not meet the huge supply of chicken, so it had to be reduced.
“This means that some chicken that may have matured after 34 days can only be processed after 40 days, meaning that the chicken has eaten more,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad denied allegations that chicken farmers had hidden their stock to sell at a higher price following the new ceiling price for standard chicken at RM9.40 per kilogramme, compared to RM8.90 per kilogramme before.
“The ministry is planning to introduce more modern farming methods to attract young people to the industry,” he said.
The Maha 2022 Southern Region will end today, while the main event will be held from Aug 4 to 14 at the Malaysia Serdang Agricultural Expo Park in Selangor.
