KUCHING: Agropreneurs need not worry if they do not have land for their farming activities as the state will be creating more agroparks.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the government had decided not to issue big pieces of land to any single company or single individual, but will create agroparks where 1,000 hectares of land will be sub-divided into 10 to 30 hectares before being leased to participants.
He said this when officiating at the Young Agropreneurs Weekend 2019 organised by Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association here yesterday.
Uggah, who is Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister, said three agroparks have been created in Kota Samarahan, Betong and Sarikei respectively, adding that more will be created.
He said the move was to encourage more people, especially the youth, to participate in the agriculture sector which offers plenty of business opportunities.
“The ministry is recruiting participants for our modern agriculture sector. We want more to become entrepreneurs and opportunities are there since we have the land,” he said.
He reiterated that the state government will assist farmers by providing subsidies and start-up funds for their ventures.
On another note, Uggah said the ministry had decided to adopt the anchor company model to exports its food products and that so far, the ministry has recruited two anchor companies for the export of durian paste and has been able to penetrate China’s market since last year.
On strategies to transform the state agriculture sector and the state’s goal to become a net exporter of food products by 2030, Uggah said Sarawak needs to reduce its food import which stands at RM3.8 billion annually.
He said among those imported are crops that can be planted here, such as maize.
“We imported around RM380 million worth of maize last year. Just imagine if we plant enough maize to sell for RM380 million instead.
“The same applies for livestock such as beef — our self-sufficiency level is at 10 per cent. It is why our beef here is very expensive compared to in Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
