KUCHING: The sago industry in Sarawak is not a sunset industry but has the opportunity to be developed.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the sago industry has great potential to be developed and that is why the state government has allocated RM10 million to subsidise sago plantations.
In addition, he said, the federal government had also allocated RM10 million for the development of the sago industry.
“In the lecture session, the speakers have pointed out the direction of this industry and I think that more research has to be done for the development of sago starting from the planting process,” he said.
He was met by reporters after representing Chief Minister in the “13th International sago Symposium” at Riverside Majestic near here Tuesday.
Uggah said he fully supported the proposals presented in the symposium where a proposed resolution for a sago international research centre was established.
“I will bring the matter to the attention of the Chief Minister because, if we hear the papers presented in this symposium, the sago industry has the potential to be developed.
“However, the potential has not yet fully explored or exploited, so I do not think the sago industry is a diminished industry,” he said.
Uggah who is also Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development however, admitted that there had been a wide range of issues related to the industry as it is up to the planters themselves to choose the kind of crop they want to cultivate.
“Planters choose what crops to plant, and in this case they will look at the productivity of every crop and market business.
“If the land is suitable for planting oil palm, maybe they will choose to plant oil palm and in addition, the market is already available and sometimes the price of the commodity is better,” he explained.
In addition, he said, some areas of peat soil were not suitable for planting other agricultural crops except for sago. Uggah added that the sago can only be planted once and after the tree reaches maturity, the tree will become a log and so on.
“Because of that, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) made various studies to ensure that sago can provide a variety of added value among them, the production of beads from sago,” he said.
He believed that with ongoing research by researchers, it will ensure that sago trees are fully utilised from tree to leaf.
He further added, Indonesia is the largest producer of sago but, they do not export it and use it for their own. Also present was UiTM Rector Prof. Dato Dr. Jamil Hamali.
