Uggah (front, left) chats with Huang (second right) during the visit to Sunmark Trading farm at Bundong Sian in Bintangor.
SARIKEI: The private sector can play a key role in promoting contract farming, which has the potential to help landowners reap recurring incomes.
In this respect, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas assures the private sector that the Ministry of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, which is under his purview, would study ways for it to help the assisting companies in aspects like drainage and other technical input.
He highlighted this during his visit to Sunmark Trading Sdn Bhd’s farm at Bundong Sian near here last weekend.
Homegrown company Sunmark Trading is set to revive Bintangor town’s reputation as the main producer of citrus fruits in Sarawak, through the planting of pomelo, ‘Limau Susu’ (Citrus medica) and ‘Limau Madu’ (honey mandarin) on a 270-hectare land in Bintangor near here.
“We intercrop the citrus varieties with coconut.
“We have been in operation over the past two years. We expect to start harvesting by the end of next year,” said company spokesperson Danny Huang Dung Po, who accompanied Uggah and his entourage during the visit.
Huang added that the company was looking forward to working closely with the Sarawak government in introducing contract farming to local landowners, and also seeking technical assistance and knowledge from the relevant departments and agencies.
It is learnt that Sunmark Trading had entered into a memorandum of understanding with another company, First Biogreen Sdn Bhd, for the latter to buy fruits from the former.
Plans in the pipeline would include penetrating overseas markets like Singapore, said Huang.
In this respect, Uggah remarked: “Sunmark trading can certainly contribute toward Sarawak’s goal of becoming a net exporter of food and food products by 2030.”