16 Perlis Aquaculture Operators Receive RM300,000 In Assistance

PADANG BESAR, Nov 11 (Bernama) – Sixteen aquaculture operators in Perlis have received RM300,000 in assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM) to increase production capacity and strengthen the state's aquaculture industry.

State Agriculture, Health, Entrepreneurship and Cooperatives, and Environment Committee chairman Megat Hashirat Hassan said the assistance, provided under the 2026 National Agri-Food Empowerment Programme (PPAN), comprised fish fry, fish feed and aquaculture equipment.

He said the aid was expected to improve operational efficiency and competitiveness, with beneficiaries targeting a production increase of up to 10 per cent.

"Besides boosting aquaculture productivity, the assistance also creates opportunities for operators to increase their income through processing and the production of downstream products," he said at the handover ceremony in Batu Bertangkup near here today.

Also present was Perlis Fisheries Department director Muhammad Nur Ashry Bassari.

One of the recipients, Hureen Haizee Kalip, 22, said she would use the fish fry and equipment to expand her tilapia and climbing perch farming business using the biofloc system in Kampung Kok Lang, Chuping near here.

Hureen, who holds a Diploma in Business, said she had been operating three biofloc ponds for more than a year and that the assistance would help streamline her farming operations.

Another recipient, Wong Boon Beng, 61, from Kuala Perlis, said the assistance could help expand his fish farming capacity and operational area.

He started his biofloc farming project in February this year, with a capacity of up to 20,000 fish.

"I plan to diversify into other types of aquaculture, including prawn farming, next year," he said.

-- BERNAMA