MALAYSIA: Rubber body plans animal feed pilot project In Ledang

The Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) plans to initiate a pilot project in Ledang, Muar, Malaysia, to turn effluent from the last stage of rubber processing into animal feed.

Director-General Datuk Dr Mohd Akbar Md Said said the one-year project, for which permission from the relevant minister has been applied, needs 10 tons of rubber a day. He made the remarks when met at a briefing on the Rubber Production Incentive (IPG) scheme organized in cooperation with the Malaysia National Association of Smallholders (NASH) at Kampung Makam in Kota Tinggi.

The event was attended by some 180 association members from the state as well as NASH Vice President Zulkifli Mohd Lazim and Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) Johor Director Mohamad Sahlan Mahnon.

Mohd Akbar urged the smallholders to make the necessary claims to ensure the success of the incentive scheme, which is aimed at preventing smallholders from falling below the poverty line if rubber prices go down. He said, under the scheme, RM649,310 had been paid to smallholders in the state as of March this year to 6,057 successful applicants. "There are 17,974 smallholders in Johor, the IPG is not a subsidy but an incentive to encourage smallholders to continue to tap rubber even if its prices go down. … RM200 million has been allocated by the government for this scheme, so smallholders should make the necessary claims. … Look for the old receipts, and I will ask the MRB to compile and manage them," he added.

Source: “Bernama” (National News Agency of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur; 18 Mar 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)