More than 200 children spent an afternoon with various livestock when animal nutrition specialist Alltech held a farm-themed carnival at the 3C Complex yesterday.
The children aged five to 12 were petting animals such as poults, rabbits and ducks while acquiring knowledge about the livestock from narrators.
They also tried their luck netting tiddlers in a pond but many of them failed to oust the fishes’ swift moves.
The carnival, held in occurrence of the Hari Raya Haji holiday, also displayed 200 drawings painted by the children under the theme of “My Farm”.
Federation of Livestock Farmers Association Malaysia vice-president Lee Lee Kong, who sponsored the event, said it is good to expose farm life to children at a tender age.
“It is good to adopt interest among children towards livestock industry as young generation always see the livestock industry as being dirty and tiring,” he said.
“As a result, our profession suffers a shortage of young blood,” he added.
He added that livestock industry is not only limited to farmers, but also include veterinarians, animal nutritionists and marketing executives.
On the other hand, Alltech South East Asia general manager Max Purser encouraged the young to venture into the livestock industry as the world population continues to grow.
“Now around the globe we have 6 billion in population, and the figure will increase to 10 billion after the year 2200, so the future in this business is really promising,” he said.
Meanwhile, 50 children were awarded for their excellent drawings in the “Draw My Farm” contest.
CJMY
