TEMBURONG: A delegation from the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) made a working visit to two Suburban Agricultural Development Farms or Rancangan Kemajuan Ladang Pertanian Berkelompok (KPLB) in the Temburong District, namely KPLB Belais and KPLB Seri Tanjong Belayang, with the aim of taking a closer look at the progress of the commercial farming fields, Borneo Bulletin reported.
Leading the delegation was the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Haji Bakar.
KPLB Seri Tanjong Belayang, owned by Jainih Haji Tahir, covers an area of 100 hectares with 57 farmers planting various kinds of fruits, vegetables and mixed crops.
Pineapple is the main crop at Jainih’s farm whereby a total 19,210 pineapple trees have been planted since the establishment a decade ago. This is followed by sweet oranges (limau manis) with 400 trees, cempedak with 126 trees, 160 durian tress, 125 rambutan trees, 100 coconut trees, 25 ja&fruit trees and 10 petal trees (stink beans).
Meanwhile, the delegation also made a visit to the 15.9 hectares of commercial field in KPLB Belais owned by Haji Ahmad bin Md Hussain. The area was first established in 1986.
Among the main crops are sweet oranges (limau manis) with 561 trees, 550 pineapple trees, 125 white durian trees, 66 yellow durian trees, 56 durian (pulu) trees, 70 langsat trees, 56 cempedak trees and 41 coconut trees.
Both farms havebeen receiving support over the years from the government, which include re-construction of roads leading to the farms, drainage, consultation from experts as well as various financial and farming initiatives.
Since 2011, there are a total of 46 KPLB areas in the Sultanate covering a total area of 1,768.98 hectares with 2,899 farmers working on the commercial fields. Out of the total, Tutong District has the largest total area with 822.88 hectares of farm and 1,235 farmers.
Among the “fast-yielding” crops that are planted in these commercial fields include local fruit trees such as kembayau, langsat, bananas, mangoes, coconuts, mambangan and various types of durian just to name a few.