KUCHING: Some 40 participants have completed the Super Cocoa Trainer (SME) course which was held for four days starting from Sept 19 to today.
Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Willie Mongin said, the course aimed to channel the latest information related to the cocoa industry in a comprehensive, continuous and planned manner.
“The main objective of this course is to ensure that our cocoa farmers can generate funds to maximise income to a higher level.
“Through this course, it can provide job opportunities for the local population and at the same time it contributes to improving the economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country,” he said.
He said this at the opening ceremony and Certificate Presentation of the Sarawak Super Cocoa Trainer Course at the Harbor View Hotel, yesterday.
According to him, this course was also to ensure the continuation of the skills of cocoa farmers that can be passed on to the younger generation.
The participants were given exposure to cocoa throughout this SME course such as best practices in cocoa plant management, effective fertilization, integrated pest management and cocoa pest caterpillar infection, pesticide handling and the use of digital applications in cocoa plants.
“Along with the current era of digitalization, there are applications for cocoa plant management such as Action Threshold – Integrated Pest Management (AT-IPM CACAO) and Decision Making Cocoa (DMCOCOA) which play a role in helping cocoa farmers reduce the use of insecticides.
“Not only that, this application also reduces expenses and increases profits,” he added.
At the same time, he hoped that all participants would take advantage of all the knowledge they had acquired throughout the SME course, sharing all their knowledge and skills with other gardeners.
Also present at the opening ceremony was the Malaysian Cocoa Board director general Dr Ramle Kasin.
