Put more pep in pepper R&D, says deputy minister
PUTRAJAYA: The Primary Industries Ministry is urging industry players to invest in research and development (R&D) to expand the range of pepper products from a condiment to other applications, such as pharmaceutics and cosmetics, to create new market opportunities.
Deputy Primary Industries Minister Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said the emphasis should be on increasing productivity and developing new pepper-based products to gain an edge in the global market.
“The pepper industry has potential for growth due to the evergrowing global demand.
“Therefore, we should make better use of the pepper research laboratory in Sarawak to discover value-added pepper products and intensify downstream activities, especially in pharmaceutics and cosmetics.
“We need to develop the right marketing strategy to market our downstream products, which is relatively new in the industry,” he said after launching the 46th Annual Session and Meetings of the International Pepper Community (IPC) here yesterday.
Themed “Transformation through Collaboration”, the fourday event, which began on Monday, would deliberate issues, such as measures to sustain and improve global pepper prices and explore collaborative activities on sustainable development of the pepper industry among IPC members.
IPC members com- prised Malaysia, In- dia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, while Papua New Guinea and the Philippines were associate members.
Shamsul said there were proposals to set up a safety net for smallholders if pepper prices fell drastically.
“We are in the midst of negotiation. The government’s goal is to facilitate and collaborate with various parties to help pepper planters in the country.”
There were 16,725 smallholders involved in the pepper industry.
Domestic consumption had increased from 10,250 metric tonnes in 2016 to 10,760 metric tonnes last year.
Global pepper production had increased 17 per cent to 501,499 metric tonnes last year, from 428,579 metric tonnes in 2016. Exports also increased significantly, from 321,213 metric tonnes in 2016 to 383,123 metric tonnes last year, with Vietnam being the largest supplier.
The country accounted for 215,000 metric tonnes, or 56 per cent, of total global exports.