KUCHING: Sarawak has set an ambitious target of RM1bil in the export value of live pigs by 2030.

Sarawak Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said the state can confidently meet this target once its three major pig producers become operational.

The state has expressed a willingness to learn from Denmark’s cutting-edge technology and best practices for its pig farms.

Rundi recently led a high-level delegation on a nine-day working visit to Denmark to gain exposure to the country’s advanced practices in breeding, robotics, food safety and disease prevention.

The findings from the tour would contribute towards Sarawak’s livestock development strategy, particularly disease prevention measures such as foot and mouth disease (from which the state has no incidents) and African swine fever, as well as exploration of investment opportunities.

Denmark’s pork industry contributes about 30% to its agriculture sector, supported by a population of 11.45 million pigs, with 90% of the production exported to 140 countries.

Among the highlights of the Sarawak delegation’s visit were a trip to Big Dutchman, a world leader in livestock equipment and feed processing, and a tour of DanBred, Denmark’s largest pig breeding firm.

The delegation also visited Danish Finest Chicken, a halal-certified poultry processing plant, and Danish Crown in Horsens, widely recognised as the most modern pig slaughterhouse and processing facility in Europe.

Rundi and the team held discussions with the Danish Food and Veterinary Council on border control systems and livestock transportation and with modular abattoir producers and Techcollege on pig slaughterhouse training and technology.

By adopting modern technology and systems observed in Denmark, Rundi said Sarawak also aims to position itself as a net food exporter by 2030.

In 2023, Sarawak exported 112,700 live pigs valued at RM169.8mil to Singapore since the first shipment was made in 2017.

Currently, Sarawak-based Green Breeder Sdn Bhd ships 2,000 live pigs weekly to Singapore.

Last month, the company headed by Dr Ng Siew Thiam marked another milestone with the official shipment of 800 live pigs to Selangor, with plans to ship to Penang and Johor.

In 2010, the Sarawak government took a major step in the development of the state’s first integrated, environmentally friendly pig-breeding farm near Balai Ringin in Samarahan Division.

The 800 ha centralised farm relocated pig breeders operating in Kuching, Serian and Samarahan to address the longstanding problems of river pollution and stench caused by the commercial-scale farming activities in these areas.

This centralised pig farm has exported more than 350,000 pigs worth RM312mil since 2017, with an expected standing pig population of 250,000 heads.

A second pig farm under development in Ensengei, Serian, southern Sarawak, would have a standing pig population of 50,000 by 2030.

A third farm with 232.7 ha was launched last November in Sungai Selabi, Selangu, Sibu Division, designed to produce 150,000 pigs yearly, adopting modern technology to detect African swine fever, which almost wiped out the state’s pig farming industry many years ago.

To support the livestock sector’s growth, Rundi said Sarawak would establish a new School of Veterinary Medicine in Semanggok through collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia Sarawak.