I REFER to the report “Experts to keep watch on prices” ( NST, April 20).

The prime minister, while announcing a RM4 billion allocation to increase food production, said “the fund would also be used to increase the production of fruits and vegetables as well as to purchase fertilisers”.

I hope the fund will also be available for increasing ruminant livestock (sheep, goat, cattle and buffalo) production.

The rise in grain price has sharply increased the cost of production of non-ruminant food animals such as poultry and pigs, which are dependent on imported maize in their feed formulation.

Feed cost accounts for 75 per cent of the production cost of such livestock.

Ruminant livestock, on the other hand, can thrive on locally available feed such as grass and palm kernel cake (a by-product of our palm oil industry).

If the grass available (but not fully utilised) in all our oil palm estates is used for cattle, sheep and goat grazing, we can significantly reduce our food bill on the import of beef, mutton, milk and dairy products, which have also shown a sharp increase in price.

Plantation owners should be urged to formulate a uniform policy of allowing workers to rear cattle, sheep or goats in their plantations.

It is a waste not to use the vast quantities of grass available for livestock rearing and instead pay weeders to remove it.

The cost of fertilisers can also be reduced through the manure produced by the grazing animals. Coconut and some fruit plantations are also suitable for ruminant livestock rearing.

M. GANESHADEVA, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – April 25, 2008