MIRI: Residents of Niah and Suai are called to venture into food production to help them generate income.
Noting that Niah and Suai are located between two rapidly developing areas, namely Miri and Bintulu, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Port Development, Datuk Majang Renggi said folk from the two areas should grab these opportunities to explore new business prospects in food production through the agriculture sector.
He said Bintulu and Miri were growing due to the oil and gas industry and petrochemical sector, attracting many people, especially job seekers to migrate to those areas.
“The migration to this area will undoubtedly have an impact on the economy, social and cultural aspects of the local community,” said Majang at the launch of the Sustainable Oil Palm Growers Cooperative Niah Suai Berhad’s (KPSM) open day in Niah, recently.
To ensure that farmers and smallholders can move along with the changing times and challenges, he said various efforts had been implemented by the government, including introducing cooperative institutions as an alternative model or value-added to improve the economy of smallholders.
Majang believed that KPSM Niah Suai Berhad would be able to bring changes to smallholders in the area by transforming agriculture from conventional methods to modern, large-scale farming methods to maximise profits.
He also lauded the cooperative for organising activities that could bring changes to smallholders here.
“Therefore, I encourage more participation from residents of longhouses and villages or smallholders to become members of the cooperatives because KPSM can provide access to farming inputs.
“For example,through the cooperative, smallholders can easily obtain information on plant supplies, fertilizer and others as cooperative management can help obtain quality inputs related to crops.”
