KANOWIT: Residents here, especially in the Ngemah constituency, have been urged to identify agricultural products that can be further developed in the area.
“If we mention the most significant place for pepper, we will think of Julau and Pakan. But in Kanowit we have yet to identify what type of crops our farmers here focusing on,” said Ngemah assemblyman Anyi Jana.
“The Department of Agriculture has provisions to help our small farmers develop and expand their agriculture.
“However, we need to focus on what type of agricultural product we want. It could be oil palm, pepper or others,” he said.
He was speaking at the closing of the Agriculture Community Outreach Programme (AgriCOP) at the Corina Jenipa longhouse in Nanga Dap here recently.
The two-day (March 2-3) programme which targeted 70 participants attracted a total of 80 participants.
Anyi urged the community to grab opportunities to learn as much as they can through such programmes.
“There are about 10 to 11 longhouses in Nanga Dap. We are not going to set a very high target but if at least 30 per cent of them become entrepreneurs or farmers and practice what they learn through this course it is good enough.
“This shows that the time you spent attending this course is worthwhile and the effectiveness of this course is also proven,” he said.
Comparing income in agriculture and full-time jobs such as in the covil service, Anyi said income through agricultural is not fixed and heavily depends on the farmer’s efforts and knowledge.
“The more knowledge we have, the more land we have and the better we are at cultivating it, the income will increase, some can achieve up to RM10,000, RM20,000 and even RM30,000 income per month. It is up to us.
“If we refer to the Department of Agriculture, there are statistics of successful farmers. This is what we want so that Kanowit is comparable to other areas that are advanced in the field of agriculture,” he added.
