KUCHING: One of the challenges to modernising the agriculture sector in Sarawak is changing the mindset of the rural farmers who have been farming in the traditional way for decades.
Minister of Food Industry, Commodities and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said for the indigenous people, every step of their farming was like a religious rite where they have to respect the order of nature as well as the presence of God.
Therefore, instead of promoting modern farming and the benefits of using technology as well as adding values to agriculture directly, it is crucial to understand their traditional practices first.
He was speaking at the launch of the inaugural Sarawak Agrotourism Conference & Expo (SAtCE) 2023 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here Monday, to unlock the immense potential of agrotourism in the state.
“We need to understand the way our rural farmers have been doing things over the decades before we can change them (their mindset and farming practices), that modern farming is the way forward.
“Apart from respecting the presence of God, we want traditional farmers to look into increasing their production and income, with high value crops, which will eventually improve their livelihood as well,” he said.
He said most of those in farming and fishing remain in B40 and living a difficult life, thus, the Sarawak government is committed to modernise agriculture, including promoting agrotourism.
Sharing what his late father had gone through, Rundi said traditional farmers were very hardworking, working from early morning until late evening.
But, they could hardly enjoy lucrative incomes as traditional farming was labour-intensive, relying on simple tools to carry out various difficult tasks.
“They worked very hard, even for years and decades … yet they hardly scaled up. Thus, this is something we want to change, we want them to have a better life.
“Thus, we need them to change their mindset to apply modern technology into farming as well as to venture into agrotourism ,” he said.
Agrotourism which covers a wide range of agriculture-related activities visitors learn and try them out by themselves is a potential business in Sarawak which can help uplift rural villages and other development.
By translating all the related activities into Ringgit and sen, Rundi is confident it will attract and persuade more young people to venture into agriculture as well as agrotourism.
