MINISTER of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah is appealing to oil palm smallholders to apply for Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MSPO) certification as soon as possible.
He told the august House that the federal government has made it mandatory for all planters, including smallholders, to be certified under the MSPO certification scheme by Dec 31 this year.
The introduction of MSPO certification scheme to produce certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) based on sustainability frameworks would have significant impact on Sarawak’s 39,870 smallholders, he said in his winding-up speech yesterday.
“The supply of CSPO is very crucial in maintaining the competitive market position as oil palm contributes significantly to the social and economic activities of the smallholders.
“The Malaysian government has thus made it mandatory for all planters, including smallholders ,to be certified under the MSPO certification scheme by Dec 31.
“For purposes of MSPO certification, smallholders are organised into Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOC),” he said.
Uggah advised smallholders to register with the nearest clusters that have been created by Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
He said MPOB had created 32 clusters throughout the state, of which 27 have already achieved MSPO certification, involving 11,914 smallholders with an area of 68,355ha.
The remaining five clusters comprising 2,986 smallholders with an area of 13,200ha, were still in the verification stage, and were expected to be fully certified by the end of this month.
“There are 24,970 smallholders with total area of 145,993ha who have yet to register with SPOC,” said Uggah.
He also talked about the progress on the setting up of Permanent Food Parks (TKPM) and Agroparks throughout the state.
To complement the TKPM initiative, he said the state government had embarked on a programme to establish Agroparks to enable the state government to provide land and improve the efficiency of production and marketing activities, and essential agriculture infrastructure and marketing facilities.
“The state government will provide essential infrastructure in the designated areas, and the participants will be supported by appropriate agriculture support systems.
“This policy will allow more young people to participate in agriculture activities in a more systematic manner in line with the state government’s objectives to accelerate the development of agriculture in Sarawak,” said Uggah.
He said three Agroparks had also been approved by the state government – two in Sarikei Division and one in Samarahan Division. He also said the Sadong Jaya and Sungai Sian Agroparks were still at the planning stage.
As for the setting up of Collection, Processing and Packaging Centres (CPPC) that meet Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) standards, Uggah said eight would be developed in various parts of the state.
“They include CPPC Tarat, Serian, which specialises in processing of durian, and is expected to be operational by end December this year.
“Three others are in Lawas, Limbang and Sarikei, which are in various stages of construction. The CPPC in Betong – at Bebuling, Spaoh, and CPPC Lundu are still in the planning stages.
“In addition to those six permanent CPPCs, my ministry will also construct two temporary CPPCs in Long Lama and at Layar Integrated Agriculture Station to ensure that market outlets for durians are ready for the coming season,” he said.