Poultry
Breeders reap rewards
The Sarawak Economic Development
Corporation (SEDC) was formed in 1972 as a state-owned statutory body with the
general aim to promote the commercial, industrial and socio-economic development
of Sarawak. It acts as a catalyst for investments in Sarawak by providing one-stop
advice on business opportunities and where appropriate, serving as a joint-venture
partner.
The Bumiputra Commercial & Industrial Community Development Unit (BCIC)
of SEDC has been in existence since 1988. Since its formation, it has played
its role of identifying potential bumiputra entrepreneurs – both urban and rural
– and grooming to become highly successful and resilient entrepreneurs. This
is in line with the government’s New Development Policy which seeks to redress
the imbalance in the economic status of bumiputras and non-bumiputras in Sarawak.
One of the more successful business
ventures which the BCIC unit has helped initiate is the poultry farming project
for Bumiputera entrepreneurs in the Kuching and Samarahan Divisions. These farms
form part of the networks of SEDC- initiated businesses which are involved in
the production, transportation, delivery and marketing of the poultry produce.
Encik Kalil ak. Suhai of Kampung
Tarat, Kuching-Serian Road was granted a loan by SEDC in 1997 to enable him
and a few assistants to set up a chicken barn to rear about 2000 chickens broilers
for starters. These broiler chickens, as opposed to layer chickens, are reared
solely for their meat and the growing period takes up about 45 days at the most.
When the broilers are ready for harvesting, they are transported by SEDC’s subsidiary
transport companies to Sarabif, which supplies chicken to some schools and Army
Base canteens throughout the State.
As soon, as the barn is cleared of
the existing stock, chicken droppings beneath the barn will be left to dry and
treated with lime for about a fortnight. Then, these are collected and packed
in bags to be sold off as fertilizers to farmers around the area. One bag of
these chicken droppings would fetch around RM5.00 – RM6.00. These droppings
are booked well in advanced by regular buyers for use on their vegetable farms.
A fortnight later, a new stock of day-old-chicks will arrive from SEDC’s suppliers
and the cycle will start again.
Encik Vincent John is from Kampung
Singai in Bau. He started his chicken farm in 1990 and he now has about 2,000
poultry stocks housed in two barns. As with Encik Kalil’s farm in Kampung Tarat,
this farm is also successfully and professionally managed.
Encik Hilbert Ngirai, another chicken
farmer from a nearby village has 4,000 stocks of broiler chicken. He has also
been in the chicken breeding programme since 1990. The SEDC provided him with
a start-up loan and just like the other farmers in this scheme, he was given
the opportunity to attend courses and attend seminars on farm management and
poultry breeding.
Encik Augustine Jose Duna, head of
the BCIC Development Division told RAKAN Sarawak that the Unit aims to develop
young poultry breeders.
“The idea is to have them start their
farm when they are still young, say, at age 25 years. When they reach their
40s they would already be the proud owners of a substantial size poultry
farm,” Augustine says.
He added that it is also the intention
of the Unit to have a core group of successful chicken breeders who would be
a role model for other entrepreneurs to emulate. The spin-off effects of having
a successful poultry farming industry is substantial; benefactors include stockists
of chicks, transporters and sub-contractors of SEDC and above all, the breeders
themselves will reap substantial returns in the long run.
SEDC works closely with the Department
of Agriculture to provide technical knowledge and impart livestock breeding
techniques to the local farmers.
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