ADECISION made a year ago to venture into the swiftlet-breeding industry has finally paid off for the Bakri Area Farmers' Organisation (BAFO), here.
MUAR: The organisation's chairman, Datuk Saipolbahari Shuib, said BAFO has seven swiftlet-breeding centres including those located in Jalan Ismail, Parit Raja, Pagoh and Parit Zin.
He said BAFO has been collaborating with Duta Sialin Biotechnology Sdn Bhd to set up a high-tech processing centre at the Payamas Technology Park, near Tangkak, and produce high-quality bird's nests for both the local and export markets.
"We have signed memorandums of understanding with seven AFOs, namely those in Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Johor, to enable us to buy their raw bird's nests and process them at our centre," he said.
"In the meantime, we are waiting for a licence from the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry permitting the export of bird's nests to Hong Kong, China and West Asia, where the markets are big.
"We are also planning to come up with bird's nest-related products."
Saipolbahari said his intention was to see farmers reaping a good harvest from the industry.
"Formerly, the price of bird's nests was between RM4,900 and RM7,000 per kilogramme. The price plunged when the Chinese government banned the import of bird's nests from Malaysia, but the matter has been resolved and now the price has returned to those previous levels.
"I hope all AFOs in the country will gain from the industry. We are prepared to help them by buying and marketing the bird's nests for them," he said.
Saipolbahari said if each of the 29 AFOs in Johor could build at least five swiftlet-breeding centres, then the total harvest could reach 20 kilogrammes a month
Read more: Breeding swiftlets pays off for BAFO - Johor - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/johor/breeding-swiftlets-pays-off-for-bafo-1.157371#ixzz29ZWOEX42
