KUALA LUMPUR: The agriculture sector needs to be developed in tandem with efforts to drive the country’s economic growth to ensure that the farmers are not left behind.
PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in developing the sector, the needs and problems faced by the farmers had to be identified for appropriate action to be taken, thus enabling the sector to thrive.
As such, he said, government leaders needed to go down to the field to address the problems faced by the group to ensure that matters were discussed at the government level.
“We, in the government, have to provide solutions, not to make excuses. People are tired of hearing about things. We have to come up with the alternatives, if we have given them the opportunity and space, but if it still doesn’t work then we can talk to them,” he said in his speech at the ‘Jalinan Mesra Peladang 2019’ programme, here, yesterday.
Also present were Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Sim Tze Tzin, National Farmers Organisation (Nafas) chairman Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi and National Fishermen’s Association (Nekmat) chairman Abdul Hamid Bahari.
He added that current technological developments could facilitate the rapid growth of the agriculture sector.
Anwar, who is also Port Dickson MP, said Nafas and Nekmat should play the key roles in linking the government with the farmers in efforts to drive the sector forward. – Bernama
