Jabu (left), Shabery (centre) and Nansian (right) at the press conference held on the sidelines of Road to Maha 2016 event in Lundu Waterfront.
LUNDU: Sarawak will be the main producer of corn in the country if it taps into the potential of the crop.
With that in mind, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry would collaborate on a pilot programme with the state government to venture into corn growing, revealed its minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek yesterday.
He said neighbouring countries Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines had already delved into corn growing as their second crop after rice plantation.
“Only Malaysia imports almost 100 per cent of corn as animal feed and own consumption,” he said.
He said Sarawak had vast areas of flat land that could be used to plant the crop.
“I have informed this to the Chief Minister and also the Deputy Chief Minister, who said the state government will fully cooperate in this huge programme in the hope of changing our agriculture landscape,” he told a press conference on the sidelines of Road to Maha (Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism) 2016 event at the waterfront here yesterday. He added that the pilot programme would start this year.
“This may take some time but we will conduct an effective planning to set a new policy for our nation’s agriculture sector,” he stressed.
Also present were Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Anthony Nogeh, Assistant Minister of Industrial Estate Development Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie and Opar assemblyman Ranum Mina.