KUCHING, Nov 10: The biannual 18th Asian-Australasian Animal Production Congress (AAAP) 2018 is scheduled to take place here on Aug 1-3 next year.
At a recent meeting between the host Malaysian Society of Animal Production (MSAP) and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, MSAP vice-president Professor Dr Loh Teck Chwen said that the AAAP congress is a platform for animal scientists and professionals to meet and discuss current advances in animal sciences and technology.
“A wide variety of topics in animal sciences and aquaculture will be presented such as feed and food security, livestock and climate change, animal biotechnology, animal breeding and genetics and much more. As such, the event will highly benefit students, technologists, farmers, breeders, and those directly and indirectly involved in animal production industry,” he added.
Meanwhile, Uggah said that he hopes AAAP 2018 will focus on success stories from other countries as these can be useful to educate and increase exposure to the locals. He cited examples of successes in cattle integration in Indonesia and downstream activities from the livestock industries.
He added that topics such as swiftlet farming, rural farming system, AI technology, IT in animal production, and precision agriculture should also be featured in an event such as AAAP 2018.
“One of the challenges for the animal production industry, specifically the beef industry, is land. Land is expensive and is a limited resource in some countries. Sarawak, however, has a lot of land and should consider optimising existing used land for the beef industry, for example, palm oil plantations can also be used to rear cattle. Another challenge to look into is in reducing the cost of feed,” he added.
Asian-Australasian Animal Production, a consortium of animal societies, was founded in 1980 with eight charter members representing the animal production societies of Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines and Thailand, organized the first AAAP Congress in 1980 in Malaysia. Later, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, India, Vietnam, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and China joined as member countries.
The 3-day event will include a conference, exhibition and workshops, expecting to attract 1,000 international, regional and local delegates.
As such the event is expected to contribute significantly towards the tourism economy in Sarawak. AAAP 2018 is co-organised with Universiti Putra Malaysia, Department of Veterinary Services, MARDI, Department of Veterinary Services Sarawak, and Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development. The conference will be managed by Place Borneo Sdn Bhd. For more information on the event, click on www.aaap2018.com or email fifi@placeborneo.com. — DayakDaily
