KUCHING: The government is aware of the declining trend in youth participation in the agriculture sector not only in Sarawak but also in the country, said Minister for Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land, and Regional Development Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
“In 2017, youth participation in agriculture experienced a 14 per cent drop over the previous year.
“There are many factors contributing to the declining interest of youths in agriculture, among them being the ‘3D’ perception of agriculture as dirty, dangerous and difficult, and that work is tiring and not profitable.
“Other factors include access to capital and land resources, skills and exposure which has prompted my ministry to implement several initiatives to halt the slide,” he said in his winding up speech during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here yesterday.
He added that in order to counter the situation, the government is promoting the adoption of modern and advanced technology such as smart and precision farming that can produce high-in agropreneurs.
“Among the smart farming systems that are being promoted include fertigation system for the production of leafy and fruit vegetables under protected structures.
“A good example is our Taman Kekal Pengeluaran Makanan (TKPM) at Rampangi which attracted 18 participants comprising 83 per cent of the youths.
“The youth participants came from various professional and educational background ranging from SPM school leavers to degree holders.
“Some of the participants are earning a monthly income between RM7,000 and RM10,000,” he said.
He added that other than TKPM Rampangi, three other TKPMs have also been established, namely TKPM Kabuloh in Miri, TKPM Semenggok, and Pejiru in Kuching.
“Another five TKPM have been approved for future development in view of the good response from our youths.
“From the four TKPM that are now operational, about 53 per cent of the 92 participants are youths and the average monthly income for TKPM participants is RM4,500 and the highest recorded yearly income is RM350,000,” he said.
In addition to TKPM development model, Uggah said that the State government has introduced the Agro Park development concept in an effort to provide land to aspiring youths to venture into agriculture with the provision of various forms of assistance and incentives.
“The various forms of assistance and incentives provided include leasing of agriculture lots for food production for a suitable period of time and participants shall be charged with appropriate rental fees.
“It also includes the provision of basic infrastructure, amenities and facilities including access road, water and electricity supply, telecommunication, farm roads, farm infrastructure, drainage, post-harvest facilities, and Information Centre.
“It also aims to provide various agriculture support services such as technical training, extension advice, marketing, quality assurance, and financial assistance.
“To date, the Government has planned to implement four Agro Parks, two in Sarikei, one in Samarahan and another one in Saribas,” he said.
Uggah added that the government will also continue to focus on educating and guiding the youths in agriculture and an allocation of RM1.166 million for ICT training and development for young agropreneurs has been approved.
“This is to enable the youths of today to gain knowledge, motivation and information to become a cluster of highly skilled youths in agriculture.
“To produce sufficient skilled workforce, structured training in agriculture is required and Agriculture Institute Sarawak provides a two-year Agriculture Certificate Programme for SPM certificate holders.
“It adopts the National Agriculture Certificate Syllabus that is recognised by Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) and to date, Agriculture Institute has successfully produced 1,372 graduates of which 85 per cent have been gainfully employed.
“In 2017, the Agriculture Institute, in collaboration with Bahagian Latihan Kemahiran Pertanian, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrobased Industry started the Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM) in agricultural crop production with the first batch of 18 trainees,” he said.
