Yeoh (left) presenting a memento to Uggah.
KUCHING: Sarawak is targeting to develop two million hectares of land for various agricultural activities, especially food crop cultivation.
According to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah, this is to enable the state to achieve its target of becoming a net food exporter by 2030 and in line with its aim to modernise the agriculture sector.
“We will use high-tech smart farming to raise productivity and quality, thus strengthening our supply chain.
“We will set up more collection, processing and packaging centres (CPPCs), do more research and development, provide capital venture for agropreneurs and strengthens our farmers organisations for them to play greater roles.
“We are confident of achieving our target, leveraging on our competitive advantages,” he said in his keynote address at the 2019 Sarawak Investment and Business Summit talks held at a hotel here yesterday.
In addition, he remarked that the state is in a strategic location, has a tropical climate with plenty of rain and an industrious workforce.
Uggah, who is also the Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, said the main driver of the agricultural transformation would be the private sector and a strong partnership should be established with them.
On the state’s other advantages, he remarked that the swines from the state are free of the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease as well as the African Swine Fever currently plaguing China, Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos and several eastern Europe countries.
“Thus we are able to export 1,200 live pigs to Singapore every week as we take our biosecurity very seriously and have strict measures in place at all entry points,” he added.
On the two million hectares of land, Uggah said they were within the state’s four regional development areas – URDA (Upper Rejang Development Agency), HDA (Highland Development Agency), NRDA (Northern Region Development Agency) and IRSDA (Integrated Regional Samarahan Development Agency).
“We also have land in the Sadok Agropolitan area and the Food Basket area (between Betong and Sarikei divisions) and the Pig Farming areas,” he said
Meanwhile, Uggah revealed that Sarawak had achieved 97 per cent self-sufficiency in fish, 90 per cent in poultry and eggs, 57 per cent in fruits and vegetables, 51 per cent in rice, 11 per cent in beef and five per cent in mutton.
He said the state’s export of food produce grew to RM1 billion last year, from RM0.7 million in 2010.