A parliamentary secretary was caught by surprise when a Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentarian asked her about pig manure at the Dewan Rakyat today.

During the question and answer session, Syed Razlan (BN-Arau) began firing questions on the usage of fertilizers made from pig manure imported from China.

"I thought the question was about agriculture inputs...I was not prepared for this," Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry parliamentary secretary Rohani Abdul Karim told reporters later.

According to a Bernama report, Syed Razlan asked the ministry if preference was given to locally-manufactured agriculture products whose quality was on par if not better than imported ones.

He claimed some pig manure fertilizers imported from China was widely used by paddy farmers in the country.

Usage of such fertilizers was encouraged by a state-owned agency, he claimed.

Cheaper alternative

Responding, Rohani ( right ) said fertilizers were imported only in small quantities from China as they were cheaper and economical than the chemical-based ones from Germany.

She said the ministry was slowing down on the usage of chemical fertilizers by encouraging the use of organic fertilizers which were manufactured from oil palm waste and animal droppings.

Later, when asked to elaborate on the China-made fertilizers, Syed Razlan said: "While I don't deny fertilizers are good for agricultural purposes, it's just that as Muslims we should be careful with what we touch and use."

His questions come in the wake of the hue and cry on the use of non-halal products in sausages which were sold to Muslim customers.

This saw the concerned agencies swing into action and raids were carried out on factories.