Jamit (fourth right) presents a hamper to a participant of the programme.
KAPIT: Farmers in the division have been asked to register with the Agriculture Department.
Bukit Goram assemblyman Jefferson Jamit Unyat said this is necessary so farmers in need can get aid under programmes such as Azam Tani or e-Kasih.
“The government always looks after the welfare of the farmers. That’s why you’re encouraged to register with the Agriculture Department. When the rubber price drops, the government actually subsidises the rubber smallholders to help them,” he said when launching the Good Agricultural Practices Training Programme at Rumah Nuga, Sungai Semujan recently.
He said the department plays a very important role in transforming the economic landscape of rural areas to help farmers increase their output and income.
“The government is committed to transforming rural economies through land development. One of the measures taken is the perimeter survey of NCR (Native Customary Rights) land and later individual land title surveys. When NCR land owners’ lands are surveyed, then they can apply to Risda (Rubber Industry Smallholder Development Authority) to plant cash crops of rubber.
“Rural farmers have land but no capital to develop the land. The government’s policy is to uplift rural folk and the Agriculture Department plays a very important role because this department directly engages with farmers. The department has so many schemes and aid such as e-Kasih, Azam Tani, etc to provide training and assistance to enable farming to generate income,” he said.
Jamit also announced a grant of RM10,000 for Rumah Nuga to carry out minor improvement projects.
The three-day training programme covered areas such as the correct application of fertiliser for different crops, how to compost bio-fertiliser from kitchen waste, the use of weedicides and pesticides, use of netting to protect leafy vegetable crops, as well as aquaculture and poultry farming.