Uggah (seated centre), flanked by Chai (on his left) and Sagah in a group photo with programme participants.
KUCHING: There is a need for accurate data in the agriculture sector as the state heads toward becoming a net food exporter by 2030, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
It is a problem he described as a ‘headache’.
“We were told there are 900,000 durian trees in Sarawak. I questioned where all these trees are.
“There is a need to have accurate data because if there are 900,000 trees, that means we have the potential to produce almost 5,000 tonnes of durian paste,” he pointed out in his speech at the closing ceremony of the Department of Agriculture (DoA)’s team-building programme Saturday.
Uggah, who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, also cited the example of the sago industry, which also has potential with matured trees ripe for harvesting but inaccessible while farmers were given subsidy to plant new trees.
“New plants will take a long time before they can be harvested. The matured ones that can be harvested are standing right in front of you, (yet) we choose to turn our eyes away from them. That means we are losing out.
“That is why data is very important. With data, we can better plan and manage (the sector),” he said.
Uggah noted that if the main durian-producing areas can be identified, collection, processing and packaging centres (CPPCs) can be built and infrastructure can be worked out for the areas so that they are accessible.
He then urged the divisional officers present at the programme to go back and track their durian trees.
“Tell me where your durian trees are. We also want to know whether they are still fruiting, just been planted or old and no longer fruiting.
“Then we will roughly know what our assets are,” he said, adding that he hoped the officers will be able to update their data for better planning.
Uggah also told the divisional offcers to identify successful farmers as it is the ministry’s policy to have anchor farmers.
Anchor farmers have been determined as agropreneurs who are successful in downstream activities, have factories for processing and, most importantly, have the market for their products.
Earlier, DoA acting director Dr Alvin Chai said the three-day team-building programme, a brainchild of Uggah, was the first for the department. “We selected 100 staff members to attend. We hope this is the first series and we hope to do it every year. We hope to do it in stages to involve all staff,” he added.
Chai described the programme as a great avenue to bring staff together and to emphasise shared values such as teamwork, kind and caring, result-oriented, integrity, professionalism and sense of ownership and urgency.
“If everyone embraces the shared values, we will be able to implement all projects assigned to us on time,” he said.
Also present were Assistant Minister of Native Land and Regional Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn, Deputy State Secretary (Rural Transformation) Datu Ik Pahon Joyik and the ministry’s acting permanent secretary Awang Johari Awang Mustapha.