BIOALPHA EXPECTS AGRICULTURE DIVISION TO BE PROFITABLE THIS YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15 -- Health supplement firm Bioalpha Holdings Bhd expects its agriculture division to be profitable in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2020, as more plants reach maturity.

The company, which cultivates herbal plants as a source of raw materials for its in-house products, has continued to make good progress at its herbal parks in Desaru, Johor, and Pasir Raja, Terengganu, which span 527.31 hectares (ha).

Managing director William Hon said Bioalpha, as an integrated nutraceutical player, believed having control over the supply of herbal-based raw materials was a crucial competitive edge, as it ensured efficacy and quality, and more importantly, the safety of active compounds that went into its products.

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“As of now, we have over 20 types of plants and are still adding more crops as we move forward. Our aim is to be fully self-sufficient for herbal-based raw materials that are of good quality.

“Our target is to have a combined 2,000 tonnes of harvest by end-2020 from our herbal parks in Desaru and Pasir Raja. As our harvest volume increases, we will also sell our herbs to external third parties, hence adding another income stream for the group,” he said in a statement today.

He added that in addition to cultivating raw herbs, the group also performed intercropping with high-yield crops such as coconut and soursop trees.

Since last year, Bioalpha began to harvest coconuts at its Desaru park, which currently has some 3,000 coconut trees.

The park spans about 121.41 ha, with over 40.47 ha having been developed and fully planted with various types of crops.

As for the 405.90 ha herbal park in Pasir Raja, 105.22 ha have already been fully planted.

-- BERNAMA