INNOVATION: Mohd Hashim holds a miniature Cropcam autopilot plane equipped with digital camera and GPS system.
KUCHING: Mechanisation, training are priorities as govt sets up committee to ensure constant supply.
With an eye on food security and sustainability, the government has set up a special committee to get farmers to rely less on labour and more on machines.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based industry’s secretary-general, Datuk Mohd Hashim Abdullah, said the committee would determine the direction based on the National Farm Mechanisation and Automation Plan (NFMAP) to help farmers operating on a larger scale to ensure profitability.
“The plan is necessary because agriculture is a big business where farmers will be trained to manage their crops. We need farmers with basic skills and knowledge. A more structured training programme will also be implemented,” he said.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of a three-day 2012 National Conference on Agricultural and Food Mechanisation organised by Malaysian Agricultural
Research and Development Institute (Mardi) here yesterday, Mohd Hashim said agriculture mechanisation played an important role in increasing agricultural production to achieve food security and resilience.
He said the world might face food crisis in 2050 and such action plan was badly needed by the ministry to ensure that Malaysia would not face the same.
“It covers the downstream and upstream processing – from land preparation to the final processed product, particularly in areas of primary production, handling, packaging, processing and waste management.”
Mohd Hashim said that under the committee, called Special Committee on Mechanisation and Automation (SCOMA), more research and development would be provided to help researchers, farmers and private companies to make production more innovative.
He added that government agencies like Mardi must commercialise their findings in the field of farm mechanisation and automation and increase the ownership and usage of machinery as well as equipment of livestock, aquaculture and service providers.
Mohd Hashim also proposed a 50:50 grant (maximum of RM5,000 for each participant) for all agriculture sub-sectors to encourage machinery ownership.
“An endowment fund or hire purchase will be proposed to enable farmers and entrepreneurs to own the machinery and farm equipment through loans or installments,” he added.
He also said the committee would set up machinery and equipment maintenance centres that would be managed by farmers’ organisations.
Farmers would also get funds at relatively low rates; easier repayment packages would also be announced.
He said efficient use of machinery and technologies could reduce the cost of producing food in the country where labour was scarce and costly.
He said he would ask Agrobank to provide funding to enable more private sector participation and increase the number of service providers.
“Incentives in the form of tax relief to suppliers of machinery, equipment and spare parts will be introduced to reduce cost of farm machinery.
“Malaysia will continue to offer incentives to farmers as well as manufacturers and importers so that the agricultural mechanisation agendas can progress smoothly,” he said.
Permanent secretary to the Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Datu Dr Ngenang Jangu and Mardi director-general Datuk Dr Abd Shukor Abdul Rahman were among those present.