PENDANG: The Farmers’ Organisation Authority (LPP) has urged young entrepreneurs to venture into crayfish farming, a sector currently experiencing high demand.
Its chairman, Datuk Mahfuz Omar, said for that purpose, LPP is ready to collaborate with a crayfish farming company in Pendang to provide training and teach farming methods to those interested.
"I, together with the LPP director, am looking for entrepreneurs from the PPK (Area Farmers’ Organisation) interested in gaining exposure. They will attend a course here to enhance their knowledge of (crayfish) farming at a farm in Pendang.
"The potential is quite large. This company can produce four tonnes (of crayfish) per month, but to meet export demands for Singapore, we need 20 tonnes. We can also export large quantities to Hong Kong, so the market outlook for our entrepreneurs is promising.
"They (the company) have expressed their readiness to train our entrepreneurs in marketing and will purchase the crayfish to produce export products. I hope that young people will seize this opportunity to boost their income,” he said after visiting the crayfish farm owned by Arbaah Sdn Bhd in Kampung Durian on Monday (Sept 9).
According to Mahfuz, the government has allocated RM1bil through the Sejahtera Komuniti Madani (Sejati Madani) programme to develop community projects to enhance the local economy.
"Each community project can receive up to RM100,000. I hope this funding will be utilised for the crayfish farming project as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, Arbaah managing director Muhammad Firdaus Osman said that he is willing to share his expertise in crayfish farming with anyone interested in pursuing it.
He said that since he began the business seven years ago, the supply of crayfish from his farm has been insufficient to meet the demands of both local and foreign markets.
"While the business is still relatively new, I see great potential for it to impact the local economy positively,” he said when met at his 4.6-hectare farm here.
Muhammad Firdaus said the farm currently operates one pond for research, along with 15 rearing ponds and 37 grower ponds, producing between two and four tonnes of crayfish each month for the market. – Bernama
