Uggah samples some ‘kelulut’ honey straight from the hive. Looking on (from right) are Razaili and Rohani.
BELADIN: A centre for durian collection will be set up in Serian soon, says Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
According to him, this will involve a collaboration with a company that has solid networking in international markets such as Singapore, China, Japan and the Arab countries.
“This is among the planning slated for the farmers. We must not leave the farmers on their own after they have planted the crops – this is a big no.
“We also strive to provide them with quality breeds to ensure better yields, which would help a lot in marketing the product. We hope to achieve this,” he spoke at the opening of Beting Maro Food Fair near on Friday, where Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim who is also Batang Lupar MP, and Beting Maro assemblyman Razaili Gapor were present.
Adding on, Uggah – also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development – said the setting-up of the durian collection centre is in line with the government strategy towards increasing the income of the rural folk, especially the farmers, livestock breeders and fishermen under the ‘Rural Transformation Programme’.
Apart from durian, Uggah said the government is also eyeing to establish collection centres for other crops such as pineapples, targetting those in Beladin – also known as the state’s ‘food basket’.
As such, he encouraged local pineapple farmers to form their respective cooperatives to forge strong cooperation among them.
However, Uggah also acknowledged a key issue faced by the farming community – marketing.
“More often than not, their harvest is being bought at low prices, which generate very little returns,” he said.
In this respect, Uggah said during his recent trip to Taiwan, he noted that the pineapple farmers there had been successful in their ventures – thanks to modern cultivation methods and smart marketing strategy.
“They (Taiwanese farmers) are not only selling pineapples as they are, but they also diversify downstream products such as pineapple tarts and pineapple juice – a strategy that boosts their income.
“They also have collection centres, from which the crops are gathered prior to distribution to outside markets like Japan.
“This is why we need to set up our own collection centres here – managed in collaboration with reputable companies or cooperatives,” he added.
Another agricultural potential in Beladin is the ‘kelulut’ (stingless bee) honey, observed Uggah.
“I can see many areas producing this honey which I’ve learnt, has many good nutritional properties.
“It is said that there is a company engaged in the production and marketing of ‘kelulut’ honet, which requires over four tonnes of the commodity for the overseas market.
“Perhaps, we could establish a stronger cooperation to ensure that our ‘kelulut’ honey would be supplied to this company. We want to capitalise on their marketing channel so that we could sell Sarawak’s very own ‘kelulut’ honey,” said Uggah.