Young entrepreneurs to benefit from contract farming initiative

KUALA TERENGGANU: An aquaculture company’s move to introduce contract farming is expected to boost the income of young entrepreneurs here, particularly those in Kuala Berang.

The contract farming initiative, launched by Temanse Aquaculture Sdn Bhd (TASB) jointly with Terengganu Fisheries Department, will increase the monthly fish production signicantly by end of next year.

The first of its kind in Kenyir Lake, the programme will train candidates over six months in the aquaculture business.

It will expose the aspiring entrepreneurs to numerous operational aspects such as planning and finance.

The candidates with the most outstanding potential will be appointed as contract farmers for TASB.

TASB is an integrated aquaculture farming outfit that owns a 30ha fish farm in Sungai Como at Kenyir Lake near here.

Its chief operations officer Nurul Aini Tajuddin said the contract farming initiative was aimed at developing a pool of highly skilled entrepreneurs for the industry.

“TASB will advance the funds for infrastructure, fingerlings and feed to take the burden off the participants,” she said here recently.

She said the programme gave interested individuals first-hand experience in running their own aquaculture business while being guided by an experienced anchor corporation.

Nurul Aini disclosed that the successful candidates would manage 160 fishing cages for a year.

At harvest, the company would buy back the yield at a price determined at the beginning of the year while profits would be divided equally between TASB and the selected participants, she explained.

She added that the programme was opened to all Malaysian aged between 20 and 39.

Shrimp Project in T’ganu to Create Jobs for Locals

MALAYSIA - Terengganu is set to be a major global supplier of shrimps, including the favourite premium quality black tiger prawns and white-leg shrimp, once the RM200mil Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture Park (I-Sharp) is ready for production by 2011.

State Agriculture and Agro-based Industries committee chairman Rozi Mamat said the state government has allotted a 1,200ha site to government-linked company (GLC) and subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Blue Archipelago Berhad, to manage the shrimp farm.

Mr Rozi said the project is one of the stimulus project under the Economic Stimulus Package 2009 where the project is expected to provide job opportunities to about 1,300 locals while generating an estimated RM130mil in annual income, he said after the soft launch of the project at SK Penarek, near here on Saturday.

He added that the first phase of the aquaculture farm will utilise 400ha of land and the construction of 500 ponds where the production is expected to start by end of next year.

Currently, land clearing and infrastructure building works have started on the first phase of the project where 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of white-leg shrimp and 5,000 tonnes of black tiger prawns could be produced when the farm reached its optimum output, he said.

Mr Rozi said the locally harvested shrimps would be exported to global market including Europe, Japan and United States.

According to The Star Online, he said the farm would also have its own research and development laboratory and shrimp fries production facilities.