Broccoli, cauliflower show great potential
KUCHING: Broccoli and cauliflower grown on experimental plots at the Agriculture Research Centre in Semengok near here are showing great potential.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and wife Datuk Doreen Mayang visited the centre on Sunday (March 28) to see for themselves this exciting development.
Accompanying them were the Agriculture Department director Dr Alvin Chai and his group of researchers and officers.
“I am pleased to note that my officers have the findings on how to plant them (broccoli and cauliflower).
“I have tasted both and they are actually okay … maybe better than those imported from China and Australia because they are very fresh.
“These are high value veggies and we hope to transfer our findings to the private sector so that they can venture into the commercial cultivation.
“Then we can reduce our imports of them and eventually when we have the volume, we can export outside,” he said today (March 28).
Uggah and Doreen appreciating the Sarawak Broccoli. 
Uggah and Doreen appreciating a Sarawak cauliflower.
Uggah who is also the Minister of Agriculture Modernisation, Native Land and Regional Development further said the two veggies are grown through the fertigation system.
On broccoli cultivation, he mentioned that the seeds come from Taiwan and Japan. The crop can be harvested in 75 to 81 days after sowing.
For the cauliflower, both local and Taiwanese seeds are used. The harvest is in 69 to 90 days.
Both are cultivated in sheds, fed organic supplements according to schedule and are pesticide free.
The UV Meiryo Japan shielding material used in the sheds help to control temperature and allow sufficient sunlight to pass through.
Circulation fans installed help to improve air circulation to enhance transpiration which results in cooling effect to the plants and the surroundings.
Both veggies too have shown high tolerance to pests and diseases and lowland weather and environment.
Uggah later also visited an experimental ‘Bentong’ ginger cultivation plot at the centre and saw for himself the process to dehydrate ‘Midin Fern’ which gives the veggie about a year-long shelf life.
