KUCHING: The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) is now promoting the planting of Revotropix Paulownia, which is a cloned hardwood tree variety, in the country.
In stating this, Deputy Minister II Willie Mongin calls upon the farmers, especially those in the rural areas of Sarawak, to capitalise on this new opportunity.
“You plant the seedling and take care of the trees for three years, which will be the time to harvest for timber,” he said during a dialogue at Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) headquarters here on Saturday night.
Ik Pahon (third left) presents a memento to Willie, as other attendees of the dialogue look on.
According to Willie, who is Puncak Borneo MP, Paulownia seedling laboratories are now being set up in Kuching and Sibu, indicating his ministry’s seriousness in promoting this commodity.
“The rural people have a lot of land, and they can consider planting Paulownia to diversity their sources of income,” he said, adding that Paulownia trees are fast-growing and easier to sustain.
Native to the East Asian region such as China and Japan, Paulownia has many uses such as for the manufacturing of furniture, musical instruments, plywood and other timber products.
Meanwhile, Willie also spoke about other opportunities in commercial farming during the dialogue, where he shared with the participants the challenges faced by the segments in the commodities sector such as pepper, rubber, cocoa and palm oil.
He called upon the Bidayuh community to strive for diversification in their cash crops, instead of focusing on certain varieties, so that they would have more sources of incomes.
“We have courses and assistance schemes available to help you with this,” he added.
He also hoped that DBNA could play a crucial role in promoting commercial agriculture among the Bidayuhs.
Moreover, he expressed his wish for a ‘Pepper Gallery’ to be set up at DBNA headquarters – meant to symbolise the crop’s significance to the community.
The dialogue involved DBNA president Datu Ik Pahon Joyik, the association’s supreme council members and branch chairmen, as well as members of DBNA Entrepreneurs Development Sub-Committee headed by Bronnie Marshall Benedict Poris.
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Sarawak region head Murphy Solomon and members of boards under the purview of the ministry also attended the session.