Johor, ECERDC to develop Jemaluang Dairy Valley project

MERSING: The Johor state government and the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) has signed a collaboration agreement (CA) to develop the Jemaluang Dairy Valley (JDV) project in Mersing Johor.

The project is part of the overall strategy in turning the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) into Malaysia’s ‘Dairy Valley’, the ECERDC said in a statement.

It said the JDV is a key agribusiness project under ‘agrofood@ECER’, an integrated initiative for agricultural and food products.

“JDV takes an integrated approach that includes upstream, midstream and downstream activities, looking into all aspects of dairy cattle production, including animal breeding, livestock management, milk processing, and related industries such as animal feed and nutrition.

“The JDV project will be modelled after the highly successful Muadzam Shah Cattle Research and Innovation Centre (MSCRIC) in Pahang, another project by ECERDC,” it said.

The CA was signed by ECERDC chief executive officer Baidzawi Che Mat, while the Johor state government was represented by State Secretary Datuk Azmi Rohani, witnessed by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad.

“The Johor state government has planned to expand its agricultural sector and intends to become a major food exporter as well as a ‘food bank’ to other exporting countries. The JDV project by ECERDC will support the state’s objective to become the regional food hub, in line with the Johor Food Security Agenda, as well as the Johor Food Bank initiative,” said Hasni.

Meanwhile, Baidzawi said the JDV is a component of the larger Dairy Valley initiative to create an efficient and sustainable dairy industry across the ECER, namely in Jemaluang, Mersing, Setiu, Terengganu, West Pahang and Lojing, Kelantan.

“This will help to lessen the country’s dependence on imported milk while providing local communities with jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities as satellite farmers and dairy industry entrepreneurs,” he said.

The JDV involves 275 hectares of land in Mersing, and is expected to produce 5.1 million litres of fresh milk annually when it commences operations in 2023, boosting the national milk production by 11 per cent. —