KUCHING: The Ministry of Modernisation Agriculture and Regional Development has been renamed as the Ministry of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development.
This was announced by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg when officiating at the Congress on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security (COSAFS 2022) at The Waterfront Hotel today.
“This change is following the significant of sustainable agriculture and food security as well as emphasis by the state government.
“When we formulated our Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, one of the sectors identified as the growth engine for Sarawak’s economy is agriculture,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi stated that his ministry is committed to supporting the National Agrofood Policy 2021 – 2030 (NAP 2.0) developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) to uphold the efficient management and modernisation of agro-food production.
He said his ministry is also confident that NAP 2.0 was formulated with a vision to develop a sustainable, resilient, and technology-based agro-food sector in driving economic growth, improving the wellbeing of the people of Sarawak and prioritising food security as well as nutrition.
“One of the ministry’s initiatives is establishing the Sago and Nipah Development Board (SNDB) early this year. This effort further supports the strategy of strengthening the sago industry as Sarawak as the leading exporter of the world’s sago flour.
“Another initiative is the paddy transformation project in Gedong namely AgriHub@Gedong proposed by Universiti Putra Malaysia Kampus Bintulu (UPMKB) in collaboration with Swinburne University and supported by the ministry.
“The project is designed to tackle the ineffectiveness of paddy production by our local farmers. We believe that this project will ripple effect in other Sarawak divisions thus further improving paddy production techniques and technologies, ensuring food security in Sarawak,” he said.
Dr Rundi pointed out that Sarawak has vast potential that can be developed particularly in agriculture.
He called upon those who are interested to seize the opportunity and lift the state’s agriculture sector’s economy and Self-Sufficiency Level (SSL).
“I hope all of us can work together and propel our agriculture sector towards modern and competent agriculture.
“This will subsequently achieve our dream of making Sarawak the Net Food Exporter by 2030,” he added.
