KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 26 — The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM) is encouraging oil palm plantation companies to establish their own livestock entities through integrated farming systems as part of efforts to raise Malaysia’s local meat production and self-sufficiency ratio (SSR).
In a written Dewan Rakyat reply on February 12, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said engagement sessions have been held with government-linked companies (GLCs), government-linked investment companies (GLICs), smallholders, and related agencies including the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Risda, Felcra, cooperatives, and private firms to promote cattle integration within oil palm estates.
“To achieve the target of 50 per cent SSR by 2030, from only 16.8 per cent in 2024, a drastic increase in the ruminant population and strong commitment from both the government and the private sector through livestock development programme interventions must be implemented,” Mohamad said.
Mohamad was responding to a question from Rodiyah Sapiee (GPS-Batang Sadong) on the ministry’s long-term plans to strengthen integrated livestock projects and community feedlots to raise local meat production, amid Malaysia’s still-low meat SSR.
It remains unclear whether the ministry has set a target land area for oil palm plantations to allocate for livestock farming. Several large plantation groups in Malaysia already run cattle integration or livestock projects within their oil palm estates or through subsidiaries at varying scales.
SD Guthrie Bhd (formerly Sime Darby Plantation Berhad) is engaged in cattle rearing and beef production in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, mainly through its subsidiary New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL), which focuses on serving the Papua New Guinea domestic market, according to the company’s 2024 integrated report.
NBPOL is Papua New Guinea’s largest beef producer, averaging roughly 2.33 million kilograms (2,330 tonnes) of beef annually for the national market.
FGV Holdings Berhad operates an integrated farming business covering cash crops such as pineapples, bananas, jackfruit, and melons, as well as paddy and rice, animal nutrition and protein, and dairy farming. FGV produces local dairy products under the Bright Cow brand.
SD Guthrie’s total landbank spans 729,711 hectares across Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. FGV Holdings holds 413,951 hectares in Malaysia, with 335,420 hectares planted, and maintains additional plantation assets in Indonesia.
Most of these cattle integration or livestock initiatives remain small-scale rather than full commercial livestock divisions, but are often cited as proof that estate-based cattle farming is operationally feasible.
Mohamad previously attributed Malaysia’s low meat SSR in part to limited available farmland, saying expansion of beef production has been constrained by land scarcity, an ageing farmer workforce, high food production costs, and cheaper imported meat.
Land scarcity also surfaced in the recent cancellation of the Bukit Tagar modern pig farming project, which was partly justified on grounds that Selangor, the country’s most commercialised state, lacks sufficiently large tracts of land suitable for livestock operations – an argument highlighted by pig importers and Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
In his latest reply, Mohamad said the ministry, through the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) and the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (LPP), has outlined multiple long-term initiatives to strengthen integrated livestock and feedlot systems to increase beef and buffalo meat output for domestic demand.
Among the ruminant industry development programmes under DVS and LPP is the Pengganda 30 Programme, an integrated intervention involving cooperation between the government, agencies, and breeders to establish multiplier farms nationwide across grazing areas, Permanent Food Production Parks (TKPM), private land, and oil palm integration sites.
KPKM, through DVS, has also developed 15 national satellite farm sites involving the construction of 67 cattle sheds across six states to encourage industry participation in integrated beef cattle farming.
Separately, LPP is implementing the Ruminant Livestock Programme under Rolling Plan 1 through productivity expansion initiatives that include feedlot and breedlot projects at eight locations nationwide.
LPP is also expanding breeding cattle projects integrated within oil palm plantations through farmers’ organisations, covering plantation areas totalling 2,881 hectares.
DVS has published a standard operating procedure (SOP) guide on systematic integrated beef cattle farming in oil palm plantations as a reference for integrated breeders and estate operators.
