KUALA LUMPUR: Peladangan burung layang-layang dijangka menjadi antara penyumbang utama ekonomi di negeri-negeri Wilayah Ekonomi Pantai Timur (ECER), dengan Kelantan kini muncul sebagai ladang layang-layang kedua terbesar selepas Perak. Sehingga Jun 2004, terdapat 300 sarang burung di Kelantan, terutama di Kota Baharu, Tumpat, Rantau Panjang dan Pasir Mas. Ladang burung layang-ladang dalam ECER masing-masing terletak di Kampung Air Papan di Mersing, Kuala Besut, Kuala Terengganu, Tok Soboh, dan Kampung Pinang, kesemuanya di Terengganu, serta Rompin dan Pekan di Pahang.Pengarah Urusan Nespure Birdsnest Sdn Bhd Ng Ching Phock berkata peladangan layang-layang menawarkan peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk selain menjadi industri yang menjana ekonomi negeri. Nespure Birdsnest yang mempunyai ternakan layang-layang di Kota Baharu, memasarkan produk itu secara langsung di premis syarikat berkenaan selain menjualnya kepada pihak ketiga. “Sarang burung yang diusahakan di peringkat tempatan adalah antara yang terbaik di dunia dari segi kualiti dan mendapat permintaan daripada pasaran antarabangsa, sama ada mentah atau sudah diproses,” kata Ng.
“Di Nespure Birdsnest, pekerja Islam ditugaskan untuk mengutip, membersih dan memproses sarang burung yang berkualiti, menggunakan kaedah tradisional,” katanya. Bio Research Centre (M) Sdn Bhd, sebuah daripada peladang terbesar layang-layang di Perak, juga meneroka peladangan layang-layang di Mersing, Kota Baharu, Kuantan dan Rompin. “Sejak pengeluaran kuantiti pengumpulan sarang burung yang boleh dimakan secara komersial berkembang pada 1998, lebih banyak PKS (perusahaan kecil dan sederhana), tuan-tuan tanah dan pelabur mula menyedari mengenai daya maju kewangan industri peladangan burung layang-layang di Malaysia,” kata Pengarah Urusannya Loke Yeu Loong. Industri peladangan burung layang-layang di Malaysia semakin berkembang sejak lapan tahun lepas, demikian menurut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh sekretariat ECER.
Pada akhir 2006, terdapat hampir 36,000 ladang burung layang-layang di seluruh negara dengan kadar pertumbuhan purata tahunan sebanyak 35 peratus. Malaysia kini ialah negara pengeluar ketiga terbesar sarang burung yang boleh dimakan, dengan tujuh peratus nilai kasar bekalan, di belakang Indonesia yang menyumbang 60 peratus dan Thailand 20 peratus. - Bernama
Swiftlet Farming To Boost Economy Of ECER States
KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Bernama) -- Swiftlet farming is expected to be one of the main contributors to the economy of the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) states with Kelantan now emerging as second largest swiftlet farmer after Perak.As of June 2004, there are 300 birds' nests located in Kelantan, especially in Kota Baharu, Tumpat, Rantau Panjang and Pasir Mas.Other swiftlet farms within the ECER are located at Kampong Air Papan in Mersing, Kuala Besut, Kuala Terengganu, Tok Soboh, and Kampung Pinang, all in Terengganu, and Rompin and Pekan in Pahang.Nespure Birdsnest Sdn Bhd's managing director Ng Ching Phock said swiftlet farming, apart from offering jobs opportunities to the Kelantanese, has also become a new industry to generate the state's economy.With its own outlet and swiftlet farm in Kota Baharu, Nespure Birdsnest markets the birds' nest products directly at its outlet and sells to third parties."Locally harvested birds' nests are among the world's best in quality and are in demand from the international market, either raw or processed," Ng said."At Nespure Birdsnest, Muslim workers are employed to collect, clean, process and select quality birds' nests by using traditional methods," he said.Bio Research Centre (M) Sdn Bhd, one of Perak's largest swiftlet farmers, is also exploring swiftlet farming in Mersing, Kota Baharu, Kuantan and Rompin."Since the production of commercially harvestable quantities of edible birds' nests started to grow in 1998, more and more SME (small and medium enterprise) businessmen, landlords and investors have begun to realise the financial viability of the swiftlet farming industry in Malaysia," said its managing director Loke Yeu Loong.The swiftlet farming industry in Malaysia has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last eight years, said a statement from the ECER secretariat.By end of 2006, there were nearly 36,000 swfitlet farms throughout the country with an average annualised growth rate of 35 percent per year.Malaysia is currently the world's third largest producer of edible birds' nests with seven percent of gross supply value, behind Indonesia at 60 percent and Thailand at 20 percent.-- BERNAMA
