BAU: The Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Ministry is committed in assisting the state’s agriculture industry to ensure farm produce can be exported internationally.
Its minister, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, said it has been the vision of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg for Sarawak to be a net exporter of food products by year 2030, and to achieve that the agriculture products must be of quality and meet international standard food requirements.
He said at the moment, the state is a net importer of food products worth almost RM4 billion.
“There is a local company here which imports 10 tonnes of chilli per month from Taiwan and Vietnam, and we are also importing 400 million units of corn from outside for food.
“But we are actually capable of planting this in the state,” he said while officiating at a Community Extension Outreach Programme (CEOP) for Kampung Kopit at Kampung Kopit multipurpose hall on Saturday.
He said while beef sufficiency level in the state is at 10 percent — the remaining 90 percent are imported from other countries.
“This is why Abang Johari has instructed me to organise programmes and assist the farmers so that the state can achieve its target of being a net food exporter by 2030,” he said.
He said the challenges of being a net food exporter is there but with the programmes and assistance given by the government, plus farmers tapping into modern farming, the objective can be achieved.
Uggah, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, then said for instance, Kampung Kopit still has plenty of land which can be converted for crop production.
“There are a number of interested farmers who want to convert their land for agriculture, as such I feel that we should support them so that they can work out modern farming using new varieties, new technology and we are also working with the Area Farmers Organisations (PPK) on how to process their products,” he said.
He said as such, the Agriculture Facilitation Fund (AFF) of RM1 million has been approved for Serumbu constituency to develop their land for crop plantation.
“We will be working with PPK Bau on how to cultivate their land, to market and process their products. Because when you are talking about processing, the packaging must be attractive as well,” he said.
Uggah also advised the agriculture industry in the state to not only compete among themselves, but to compete internationally with countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
“We must uplift our agriculture sector and position ourselves in such a way so that we are able to compete with the international market,” he pointed out.
The CEOP is a programme implemented by the Sarawak government to strengthen the relationship and cooperation between the Agriculture Department and farmers in the rural areas.
Through the programme, locals in the rural areas are able to benefit from the development programme covering modern farming, crop management and for farmers to adopt Good Agriculture Practices.
Earlier, about 250 from Kampung Kopit attended the CEOP programme.
