Fresh milk self-sufficiency at 62pct, productivity key to closing gap

KUALA TERENGGANU: Malaysia still needs to import about 26 million litres of fresh milk to meet domestic demand, with the country's fresh milk self-sufficiency level (SSL) standing at only 62 per cent in 2024, according to a Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) veterinary expert.

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Deputy Dean (Academic and Postgraduate), Dr Noor Syaheera Ibrahim, said data from the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) showed that local producers supplied about 43 million litres of the 69 million litres of fresh milk required nationwide, leaving a shortfall of 26 million litres to be met through imports.

She said the figures showed that Malaysia already had a solid foundation for its dairy industry, but there was considerable room for growth as consumer demand for fresh milk, high-protein and probiotic products, as well as value-added dairy products, continued to rise.

"Consumers today are not only looking for milk as a source of nutrition but are increasingly interested in fresh, high-quality milk, high-protein and probiotic products, functional dairy products and locally produced dairy products," she told Bernama recently.

Dr Noor Syaheera said Malaysia's reliance on imported milk was not due to a single factor but reflected challenges across the dairy ecosystem, including cattle productivity, feed costs, climate, capital, infrastructure and the availability of skilled workers.

She said increasing milk production was not simply a matter of having more cattle but also required animals capable of producing milk efficiently under Malaysia's tropical climate.

"Feed costs are among the largest components of operating costs in the dairy industry, while much of the high-quality feed is still linked to import markets and fluctuations in global commodity prices," she said.

She said Malaysia's tropical climate was another challenge, as high-producing dairy cattle generated considerable metabolic heat which, combined with high temperatures and humidity, could cause heat stress.

"This can reduce feed intake, which in turn affects milk production and reproductive performance," she said.

Dr Noor Syaheera said economies of scale, capital and infrastructure were also constraints, as dairy farming required substantial investment in livestock, housing, milking systems, cooling tanks, waste management and cold-chain facilities.

"Fresh milk is highly perishable and must be handled through an effective cold chain. For example, the DVS recommends that fresh milk be stored at around 3 to 4 degrees Celsius to control the growth of microorganisms," she said.

Dr Noor Syaheera said Malaysia's dairy industry had nevertheless made positive progress over the past decade, with more commercial farms, modern milking systems, more systematic feeding practices and greater private-sector involvement in developing the local milk supply chain.

She said the local dairy industry had significant potential to reduce import dependence, but efforts had to be strategic, with priority given to improving the productivity of existing cattle before expanding herd numbers.

She said the government had set an aspiration of achieving 100 per cent SSL for fresh milk by 2030, which would require greater development of local feed resources, stronger breeding programmes, genetic selection suited to the tropical climate and wider use of precision farming technologies.

To achieve the target, she said priority should be given to increasing the productivity of existing cattle before expanding the herd, while developing local feed sources such as high-quality grass, maize silage and by-products from the agro-food industry.

She said breeding programmes and genetic selection suited to tropical conditions also needed to be strengthened, alongside greater use of precision dairy technologies, data management and automation.

"Ultimately, we need to shift our focus from simply asking 'how many cattle do we have?' to 'how many litres of quality milk can each cow produce over its productive lifetime?'," she said.

Dr Noor Syaheera said the government's efforts through the National Dairy Production Strengthening Programme under the 13th Malaysia Plan (2026-2030), including assistance in the form of livestock and equipment, reflected its continued commitment to expanding the capacity of the local dairy industry.

She said climate change and heat stress, feed costs and diseases were among the key interconnected challenges that needed to be addressed to boost domestic milk production.

Rising temperatures and humidity could cause cattle to reduce their feed intake to regulate metabolic heat production, potentially lowering milk yields while affecting reproduction, immunity and overall animal health, she said.

On animal health, Dr Noor Syaheera said the industry needed to move beyond simply treating diseases towards early detection and prevention, particularly in cases involving mastitis, reproductive and metabolic disorders and infectious diseases.

She said universities also had a bigger role to play in ensuring that research findings did not remain confined to academic publications but were translated into tangible improvements in farm productivity.

"Collaboration between universities, the government and industry must also be strengthened, including through more commercial research farms," she said.

On policy, Dr Noor Syaheera said the government should focus on productivity rather than livestock numbers alone, including by introducing performance-based incentives tied to higher milk yields, lower somatic cell counts, improved reproductive efficiency and greater adoption of green technologies.

She is optimistic that over the next five to 10 years, Malaysia's dairy industry will move from conventional farming towards precision, climate-smart and circular-economy models.

This could include the use of sensors and artificial intelligence (AI), more precise nutritional management, automated milking, solar energy and the conversion of livestock waste into biogas or fertiliser, she said.

Dr Noor Syaheera said research should also be strengthened in areas including genomic selection for tropical dairy cattle, metabolomics and biomarkers for early disease detection, heat-tolerant livestock, rumen microbiomes and alternative feed sources.

She said the future success of Malaysia's dairy industry should not be measured solely by the volume of milk produced but by its ability to produce more milk from fewer resources while ensuring animal welfare, environmental sustainability and sustainable incomes for farmers.