Located in Johor, the southern state of Malaysia, the Mersing district is slated to be the state’s agribusiness hub with the development of two major projects, which are the Jemaluang Dairy Valley and the Endau-Mersing Fish Processing Park. The Chief Minister of Johor, Datuk Hasni Mohammad, said that the projects were announced in accordance with key measures under Johor Budget 2022.
Mersing has the right ecosystem for increasing food security and expanding agro-food production in the state. The construction of Jemaluang Dairy Valley is expected to be finished in 2023. The valley will produce 5.1 million liters of fresh milk per year when fully operational, representing an increase of 11% in national milk production. Meanwhile, the Endau-Mersing Fish Processing Park is nearly finished, and it will serve as a platform for local SMEs to produce downstream fish-based commodities with added value.
In addition, the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) Development Council (ECERDC), a federal statutory body responsible for accelerating the implementation of strategic high impact projects in the ECER states of Johor, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu, has announced that it will establish the dairy valleys in all ECER states over the next five years. The ECER Dairy Valley expansion project will begin in 2023 and is intended to increase Malaysia’s self-sufficiency for fresh milk by 2025. The council is also looking into suitable sites in Setiu, Raub and Lojing for a combined annual capacity of 13.4 million liters. The ECER dairy project is anticipated to produce 24.6 million liters per annum or 40% of the country’s fresh milk production capacity.
ECERDC is also planning to set up other agriculture projects that have high demand like coconut cultivation, animal feed and the commercial cultivation of chilies and tomatoes. Another possible development would be to include the district of Segamat (which is in the state of Johor) under ECER regional programs; this will be tabled in March 2022. Segamat is envisioned as a Bio-Agro Valley focusing on agro-based sectors such as durian plantations, aquaculture, and dairy farming in line with ECER Master Plan 2.0.
(Sources: The Star; The Edge Markets)
