Rural areas in Sarawak stands to gain from agriculture development due to its huge amount of land which is rich in bio-resources.
As the largest state in Malaysia, potential is rife in Sarawak’s 2.0 million hectares (ha) of land for agricultural development, according to the State Planning Unit (SPU) under the Chief Minister’s Department.
The SPU believed that there is an estimated marine fish production potential of 330,000 tonnes per year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations forecasts that world demand for agriculture products will grow over the next three decades albeit at a moderating rate.
The organisation believed that demand for agriculture produce will be supported by food consumption in China and India as well as peoples’ preference for healthy diet.
It also observed that consumer demand for fish remains brisk, with more people worldwide appreciating the health benefits of regular fish consumption.
As one of the countries which relies substantial amount on food imports, the cultivation of crops and agriculture produce in Sarawak which in turn can be marketed is one of the solutions to address the situation.
Felcra Bhd’s (Felcra) chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin during a recent function in Sarawak said Malaysia needs to increase its self-sufficiency in food since there was an imbalance in the country’s food export and import.
The country has exported just RM6 to RM7 billion worth of food but imported more than RM40 billion in food.
With increasing population and demand for various types of food and spices, there are opportunities in which local agriculture players can tap into to generate higher income.
Besides, the state government encourages aspiring agriculture players especially those residing in the rural areas to venture into the agriculture industry to uplift themselves from the poverty circle.
Grow, market and sell
The development of agriculture produce will enable rural community to earn more income through the marketing and exports of their crops and produce.
On this point, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem urged smallholders and commodities entrepreneurs in Sarawak to modernise and commercialise agriculture.
The government is committed to strengthening the country’s economic development growth in order to increase the income and improve the socio-economy of the people including those involved in commodity-based industries.
“To assist (agriculture players) them in improving their productivity and income, the government offers various incentives and assistance such as Palm Oil Smallholders Replanting Scheme, Cantas Discount Scheme, Farm-level Quality Improvement and Increment Scheme and more as well as programmes to enhance the revenue of the smallholders so as to achieve the target income of RM4,000 per month in 2020.
“This is one of the ways to develop the state’s rural areas and I will concentrate on the policy for rural development because you deserve it,” he said when officiating at the National Smallholders and Commodities Entrepreneurs Conference (NSCEC) last year.
Adenan opined that agriculture players and agropreneurs should emulate the modern agriculture practices of farmers in the United States (US) and other developed countries that produce more than sufficient food for their country as well as for export.
“The farming population in the US comprises only two to three per cent but they can produce more food because they have developed modern methods of agriculture,” he observed.
In the meantime, Adenan noted the commodities sector in Sarawak which covers palm oil, rubber, timber, cocoa and pepper is one of the main contributors to the country’s export earnings, with the state’s commodities sector export value amounting to RM8.77 billion in 2014.
“Rapid development of this sector has contributed significantly to the country’s overall commodities sector production.
“For instance, the pepper commodity, around 15,792 ha or 98 per cent out of the national total of 16,021 ha planted areas are in Sarawak.
“Whereas for rubber plantation, the land area in Sarawak is 172,831 ha (or 16.2 per cent) out of the overall 1.07 million hectares of rubber plantations in Malaysia,” he observed, adding that the number of smallholders involved in commodities sector in the state was 153,220 people as of 2015.
Changing landscapes, changing livelihood
Concurring with Adenan, Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Rural Economy Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas believed rural areas can be transformed through agriculture development to assist the community there to get out of poverty and the low-income trap.
“The highlands present a great potential for rural transformation, if it is properly planned and developed for agriculture.
“These transformation will enable rural folks to earn more and help the Penans escape from the clutches of poverty.
“We hope the number of hardcore poverty cases will be reduced to a minimum by 2018,” he said during a press conference after the Department of Agriculture (DOA) presented agriculture produce such as ‘terung asam’, tapioca and banana from the Penan community in Long Beruang at an event recently.
Uggah, who is also Deputy Chief Minister shared that human capital development programmes conducted by the DOA has changed the lifestyle of the rural community through raising livestock, fishing and growing crops.
He observed that agricultural activities has not just provide the rural community with food, but assisting them to generate additional income through the sale of agricultural produce to enhance their standard of living.
He revealed that the DOA through the Regional Economic Development Authority (Recoda) is planning to establish a 20-ha station complex and a field station spanning 614 ha to act as a research and development centre. Uggah pointed out that the state government’s effort in using rural growth centres (RGC) to transform the rural community such as Ulu Baram is bearing fruits.
Building a complete supply-chain for players
Likewise, the Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture and Rural Economy is working on to build a complete supply chain to enable farmers and agriculture producers in Sarawak
Uggah said his ministry will be helping farmers in Sarawak to establish a complete supply chain management system for their production and marketing of their produce by providing the necessary facilities.
Uggah believed the system is important to enable farmers in the state to increase their income and raise their standard of living.
He stressed that the system is the catalystic factor that will help farmers in the lower income group to get out of the poverty circle in the future.
Besides, he noted that the system is effective and is being practiced and applied by some industry players around in the world.
“It is very important for farmers to develop a complete supply chain along their production and marketing of produce.
“It will assist them to generate better income and help them to live a better life.
“Farmers especially in Sarawak need to re-think about the whole process of farming in the new era of globalisation.
“From planting the seed to harvesting the crops and subsequently marketing the produce to the end-user or consumers, modern farmers need to understand the entire supply chain which could benefit them in the long run.
“Besides, they also need to do market analysis, provide better packaging to market their products and form a good network and distribution channel,” he said after making a study trip to a farm in West Java, Indonesia in October this year.
Collaboration with Felca to develop Food Zones
Apart from that, the state government is exploring the opportunity to cooperate with Felcra to develop more food zones in Sarawak in order to reduce the country’s high food import bill.
Uggah observed that Sarawak had a sizeable landbank for food zones including more than 1 million ha of native customary rights (NCR) land available for plantation and food sector.
“We welcome Felcra. We will sit down to plan what we are going to do. In some areas between Song and Kapit there are many NCR land not yet developed for plantation.
“This is an opportunity which can be studied by Felcra,” he reportedly said.
Uggah was responding to a suggestion made by Bung Moktar to the state government during a function to gazette more land to Felcra for the purpose of planting food crops.
Besides that, he has also invited cooperation from Felcra to share their experience and expertise in the development of the agriculture sector.
“That’s where Felcra can come over, bring over your experience and expertise in the planting of pineapples, bananas, vegetables and even in livestock.
“I can assure you the state government will give our cooperation.
“I can see that with this cooperation, we will be able to resolve the issue of poverty, increasing the people’s income and make Sarawak as one of the food producers in Malaysia,” he said.
He also took note of Bung Moktar’s plan to export Malaysia’s food products to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, following demand for halal food, and he hoped Sarawak could be part of the initiative.
“I am very happy that Felcra has a programme to produce, process and market beyond our shores.
“In 2020, Japan needs to import food for the Tokyo Olympics. I appeal to Felcra to sit down, let us build the total supply chain for all of us in Sarawak,” he said.
Aside from that, Uggah also invited Felcra to assist the state in developing the tourism potential in water bodies at hydroelectric dams in Bakun, Batang Ai, Murum and the upcoming one in Baleh.
He also appealed to Felcra to build two or three more palm oil mills in Sarawak to supplement the one in Sri Aman.
Uggah believed the construction of additional palm oil mills would be of great assistance to the oil palm smallholders to improve their income.
Areas earmarked for growth
Looking ahead, some of the areas that has the potential to be turned into agriculture produce includes Betong, Samarahan, Serian, Sarikei, Limbang and Tunoh.
Uggah during the latest State Assembly Sitting also revealed that more rural agricultural stations will be set up to bring services closer in order to transform rural farming communities to generate more income.
He explained that those stations will enhance the capacity and capability of extension workers, packaging the the rural agriculture station with trials and demonstration farms.
He observed that a good example of the rural agricultural station is the setting up of the station in Baram Highland, where highlands present huge land areas with great potential for rural transformation through agriculture development.
He noted most of the minorities residing in the highland, for instance the Penan form the majority of the hardcore poor who traditionally depend heavily on jungle produce, hunting and fishing for their daily food consumption.
Leveraging on research to produce value-added products
Besides that, the state government encourages the production of niche products using indigenous fruits for sale and exports.
This follows the launching of a new product, SaraChocS, a unique agro-based products manufactured from cocoa recently.
Uggah noted agriculture produce from indigenous fruits are produced through collaboration between the DOA, Malaysian Cocoa Board and Sarawak Institute of Agriculture Scientists as niche or specialty products of Sarawak.
Uggah disclosed that Sarawak produced about 3.5 million tonnes of cocoa each year.
He believed the rising incomes in emerging markets like China and India could spur demand growth for cocoa by approximately 30 per cent to more than 4.5 million tonnes by 2020.
Thus, he opined that the increasing demand scenario could benefit agriculture producers such as farmers in the state.
On another note, Uggah noted the DOA through its Crop Research Division is researching and developing value-added products based on indigenous fruits.
He observed examples of value-added products produced using indigenous fruits from ‘Dabai’ or Sibu olive fruit were roasted kennel, dried dabai, dabai cakes, dabai soap and dabai ice-cream.
Uggah added value-added products developed from another indigenous fruit, Terung Asam Sarawak were juice, jam, dehydrated slices and ice-cream.
He revealed that apart from dabai and ‘terung asam’, DOA is also actively researching on methods to enhance the shelf-life of other indigenous fruits like “Kelampai’ (Elateriospermum tapos) and ‘Merenti’ (Ostodes pauciflora).
Uggah noted, “Those two fruits produce nuts that are rich in nutrition if proper post-harvest handlings are adopted.
“With the development of value-added products and proper market research and marketing strategies, the two nuts, I believe can stand tall amongst the other world famous nuts such as almond and walnut,” he said.
Uggah highlighted that Sarawak is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world.
Hence, he said the government hopes that the rich-bioresources in Sarawak are harnessed actively and also in a sustainable way.
Meanwhile, Assistant Minister for Science Research and Biotechnology Dr Annuar Rapa’ee said the state government has several initiatives in place to drive research in various sectors such as agriculture, natural products and crops to enhance the development of bio-tech based products in Sarawak.
He disclosed during the recent State Legislative Assembly that the research institutions and agencies involved were Agriculture Research Centre, Sarawak Biodiversity Centre, CRAUN Research Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi).
“These research institutions and agencies are there to harness the state’s local and indigenous biological resources such as food crops, useful plants and microbes to be researched and developed using biotechnology to produce enhanced biotech-based products,” he said.
Dr Annuar further revealed that the incorporation of new growth areas in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) with one of the focus being biotechnology to support the state’s bio-industry as well as the development of agriculture and agro-biotech in the SCORE areas.
He added the Mukah Science Park would play a key role in providing the infrastructure to establish biotech-related research to develop products from industries such as palm oil, timber-based products sago products, aquaculture, food and non food processing for the Halal market. healthcare and herbal or natural products.
Moreover, Dr. Annuar disclosed that research-oriented institutions of higher learning such as Unimas, UPM Bintulu, UiTM Kota Samarahan, Curtin University Sarawak and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak carry out academic and research programmes in biotech.
In particular, he noted Curtin University Sarawak is also setting up a BioValley Park in Miri in partnership with the Ministry of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade and Investment.
Dr Annuar observed that the RM50 million BioValley Park would include infrastructure and facilities to facilitate production of higher value-added products through pilot scale production, product analysis, quality assurance and routine testing.
He pointed out that the facility will further boost research and development and the biotech industry in Sarawak especially in relation to SCORE.
Boosting production for crops and agricultural products
Meanwhile, some of the agriculture produce that can be farm by the rural community include pineapple, pepper, oil palm, and so forth.
Under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP), Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board LPNM has applied for seven projects totalling RM102.6 million.
Out of this amount, RM25 million would be allocated to Sarawak for pineapple plantation.
Uggah also believed pineapple plantation in which majority is planted in Sarikei is going to become a game changer in the state and is able to help eradicate poverty in the rural areas
“It will be a rural and community-based industry aimed at eradicating hardcore poverty.
“The state fully supports the industry.
“We have set up a task force to coordinate programmes for economic development in the rural areas.
Besides pineapples, Sarikei is also famous for its oranges, vegetables, pepper and oil palm.
As Sarawak aspired to turn Sarikei town into a hub for food production, the state government has taken several initiatives.
Assistant Minister for Rural Economy (Coastal Areas) and Fisheries Datuk Julaihi Narawi said the state government will impelement several programme at the town.
Those programmes which involved an allocation of about RM2.5 million comprised fruit industry development, agriculture diversification, agro-based industry and home economics, livestock development and aquaculture development.
For livestock development, rabbit breeding has the identified as one of the activities to increase the revenue of the rural communities in Sarawak who are still dependent on commodity crops.
Uggah during a visit to a rabbit farm in Bintangor said the market for rabbit meat is extensive and with adequate supply, it will be able to penetrate foreign markets.
He believed a farmer who is raising 100 rabbits can get a net return of more than RM3,000 a month.
“This is an opportunity for rural communities to increase their source of income and not just rely on commodity crops with fluctuating market prices.
He added that to ensure the success of the business, there must be a field used as an ‘anchor farm’ which not only purchases rabbits from breeders but also provides livestock breeding courses.
The role, he said, can be played by the Golden Rabbit Farm which currently has more than 5,300 rabbits and supplies about 2.5 tonnes of rabbit meat a month to the local market.
“The State Veterinary Department can come up with rabbit breeding courses and we will focus on rural communities in the Sarikei Division before expanding to other parts,” Uggah added.
Apart from that, Uggah said the state government will increase the number of deep sea fish landing as the industry is poised to have vast potential that could support the development of downstream fishery industries.
He noted Sarawak’s deep sea fisheries is yet to realise its full potential and presently contributed 22 per cent of fish landings in 2015, equivalent to 32,000 metric tonnes.
Uggah believed the potential yield of the industry is projected at 500,000 metric tonnes per year.
Cultivating youths to become agropreneurs
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry is mulling programmes, for instance the Young Agropreneur Unit with the aim to produce 1,000 dynamic young entrepreneurs every year.
Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Dato’ Anthony Nogeh pointed out that the agriculture sector is undergoing transformation and will become more competitive especially with the use of modern and advanced technology.
He believed with the usage of modern technology in the agriculture sector, it will assist to produce high-income agropreneurs.
Nogeh added that educating and guiding youths in agriculture had always been the government’s focus.
As such, he said his ministry had pioneered the formation of Agriculture Entrepreneurs Undergraduates Club (MyAgrosis) at public institutions of higher learning to encourage their involvement in modern agriculture. April 23, 2016 he said during an event at SK Petra Jaya earlier this year.
He cited the RM90 million allocated for young agropreneurs development under Budget 2016 as another initiative taken by the government to attract youths to agriculture.
“The ministry has put in efforts to focus on human capital skills development for youths.
“This is to enable today’s youths to gain knowledge, motivation and information to become a cluster of highly skilled youths in agriculture,” he said.
The government’s easy loan schemes from Agrobank and National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun Nasional) as well as government grants allowed youths to be engaged in sub-sectors like farming, fisheries and agro-based industries.
Additionally, Nogeh revealed recently that Tekun Nasional is targeting to disburse total loans amounting to RM32 million to 2,489 entrepreneurs in Sarawak next year.
He disclosed that RM25.6 million has been disbursed to 2,491 entrepreneurs in Sarawak as at October this year.
Nogeh observed that Tekun Nasional disbursed approximately RM211.5 million to 27,294 entrepreneurs of various trades in Sarawak since 1998.
As for the whole country, he revealed that Tekun Nasional had disbursed RM4.49 billion to 373,714 entrepreneurs since its establishment in 1998.
Meanwhile, Tekun Nasional will launch a new programme known as ‘Temanita’ – a group loan facility for registered women entrepreneurs throughout Malaysia.
The loan facility is to encourage women especially mothers who are in businesses to start up or expand their businesses.
Providing access to financing
Apart from that, government-backed financial institution, Agrobank sees opportunities to provide funds to agriculture players in particular agropreneurs who wants to expand their businesses.
Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek observed that Agrobank offers financial assistance to agropreneurs.
He noted that the financial assistance has benefited 90,000 agropreneurs in Sarawak while pointing out that the number of agropreneurs in the state had doubled in 2015 as compared to 43,800 in 2014.
Meanwhile, Agrobank’s chief executive officer Datuk Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman revealed that Agrobank had taken a unique and different approach, when compared to other financial institutions, in terms of opening its branches.
According to him, the approach was in line with the financial inclusion policy of providing banking services to the unserved and underserved by opening branches in agriculture and rural areas that have little or no bank services.
“Agrobank has 189 branches, of which the majority of these branches are located in rural areas throughout the country.
“For Sarawak, nine of the 24 branches throughout the state, namely in Simunjan, Lubok Antu, Pusa, Spaoh, Pekan, Julau, Daro, Matu and Selangau, are sole operating banks there,” he was reportedly said.
On financing services provided for the state, Fadzmi said as of July 2015, Agrobank had approved 3,149 applications amounting to RM187.46 million.
“We are honoured to also note that due to our recent collaboration with Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra), we have approved finance loans of RM112 million.
“At the same time, negotiations are also underway with this agency to channel funding to other projects,” he added.
Additionally, Fadzmi also disclosed that there are 88 Agrobank agents, comprising LPP, Fishermen Association and Agrobazaar Shops, in operation, including six in the state.
Moreover, Agrobank also provide financial services to people in remote areas including Bario.
Ahmad Shabery noted the opening of AgroAgent in the highland will provide more convenient to the rural community especially agropreneurs in terms of business development.
“When we establish the financial services in an area, indirectly it helps the local community to easily perform anything that is related to financing.
“Without proper financing and funding, a business cannot be developed.
“It is also hoped that with the establishment of banking facility here, it will boost the homestay businesses and the local community in Bario will take advantage this,” he noted.
Getting assistance from federal government
In the federal 2017 Budget, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has announced several incentives to assist agricultural producers.
Those incentives include RM1.3 billion to subsidise paddy price, seeds and fertilisers inlcuding hilly paddy, an allocation of RM250 million to implement purchase of floor price and rainy season assistance benefiting registered rubber tappers and smallholders.
Besides that, the government will also develop infrastructure such as drainage and irrigation, farm roads and marketing of agricultural products.
Najib added a sum of RM20 million is provided to upgrade estate roads, to facilitate palm oil smallholders. He said a sum of RM286 million is provided to increase exports of palm oil, rubber, cocoa and pepper.
Additionally, Najib said a sum of RM50 million is allocated to conduct scientific research to enhance the quality of palm oil products. He added a grant of RM30 million will be provided through Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for replanting of palm oil by smallholders.
Najib stressed that high impact programmes including paddy estates, aquaculture integrated zone and cage fish farms will be continued.