THE days ahead will be more challenging for the agricultural sector given the rapid disruptive technological changes, innovation and globalisation.
“To move the state agriculture sector forward, the Department of Agriculture Sarawak must adopt and adapt to the changes around us,” said Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
Also, the agro-community in Sarawak must first shift their mindset, moving away from the self-subsistence to “wealth creator” mentality with the objective of “dollars and cents” in all their agriculture endeavours, he said.
Dr Rundi said the agriculture sector in Sarawak has issues and challenges, all of which need to be addressed accordingly with the strategies set out by the Ministry and implemented by the department.
“Among the challenges are the lack of economies of scale, whereby land-holding for crop development is dominated by small-scale farmers, resulting in a lack of concentration for production, low productivity and high cost of production and logistics,” he said during his ministerial winding-up speech on Tuesday (Nov 19).
He pointed to inefficient post-harvest processing technology, facilities, and infrastructure, with the Sarawak agriculture sector lacking modern post-harvesting processing technology, inefficient marketing logistics and poor processing facilities, resulting in sub-optimisation of perishable produce.
“There is a lack of quality planting materials, seeds, fish fry, livestock breed, and animal feed where the availability of stock of these items is limited and insufficient, and have to be imported from outside of Sarawak, contributing to a higher cost of production,” he said.
Dr Rundi added that a small domestic market with a population of about 2.5 million leads to low demand, and the small population cannot absorb all of Sarawak’s agricultural produce.
“It has limited access to the export market due to the inability of the producers to comply with stringent global quality standards, making it difficult for local producers to penetrate the export markets, which is made difficult by stiff competition from stronger exporting countries within the region.
“The shortage of young and skilled workforce and the lack of support systems and services, and the fact that this sector is labour-intensive with low return, might have contributed to the youth to shun this sector as they are more attracted to work in other economic sectors.
“Low adoption of modern farming techniques and technology, as the agro-community in Sarawak is made up of the older generations, and this is further exacerbated by limited or lack of connectivity in the rural and remote areas,” he stated.
Having said this Dr Rundi said the department can showcase a century of success in revolutionising farming practices and fostering sustainable agro-communities.
He said the department had transformed since 1924.
“Throughout this century, we have accomplished significant achievements in changing the landscape of the Sarawak agriculture sector and improving the lives of our agro-community,” he said during his ministerial winding-up speech on Tuesday (Nov 19).
Dr Rundi added the department boasts many accomplishments throughout the 100 years.
“This includes being the pioneer of the planting of various commodity crops like oil palm, rubber and pepper, and through research efforts of the department, two new pepper varieties have been introduced named “Semongok Emas” and “Semengok Perak”.
“The growth of commodities such as oil palm and rubber can be attributed to the comprehensive supply chain of the sub-sector, from planting to processing, which allows for a guaranteed income for smallholders.
“The Department of Agriculture Sarawak has been engaging with the agro-community, especially in the 1950s, with the department implementing training programmes through its Home Demonstration Section under its Field Extension Branch, covering various topics and aspects such as basic hygiene, childcare, cooking, sewing, balanced diet, and vegetable gardening.
“This function remains vital and significant and has become a precursor to the current Extension and Agro-Based Industry Divisions of the department,” he said.
Dr Rundi added that the Ministry, through the department, has developed the e-Tani System to capture the farmers’ profile in Sarawak.
“The system will enable more systematic and effective planning and assistance to farmers, and the department has registered about 40,000 farmers,” he said.
