Agriculture Dept utilises almost all allocations

KOTA KINABALU: The Agriculture Department had successfully implemented all the targeted agro-food development projects last year.

According to Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin, the department had utilised RM13,432,907.46 out of the RM13,531,000 (99.3 percent) allocation given to it by the Federal Government.

The department also used RM34,996,421 out of the RM39,654,770 State Government allocation (88 percent achievement).

He said that the department continued to focus on agriculture development, on research, accreditation and certification, quarantine enforcement, human resource development and on agripreneurs.

At the same time, the department would also focus on increasing the production of vegetables, including organic vegetables and fruits, he said at the ministry’s Premier Assembly ceremony held at Wisma Pertanian near here yseterday.

MD2 pineapples, MATAG coconuts and Sabah bananas as well as Durian Musang King would continue to be given priority due to local and export demands, he said.

Yahya also said that two more Permanent Food Production Parks would begin operation this year, the TKPM IATC in Putatan and TKPM Masilou in Kundasang. Presently, only two parks are in operation in Sabah. They are TKPM Tawau and TKPM Sg Koyah in Kinabatangan.

In the 2018 budget, about RM150 million had been allocated for the payment of special assistance to paddy farmers at a rate of RM200 per month for a period of three months (total RM600), he said.

Yahya also mentioned that more efforts would be put in place to protect the agriculture sector in Sabah from the threats of diseases and main pests from outside of the State.

“The department will further strengthen its quarantine enforcement at all 18 key entry points (pre-border/border/postborder) throughout Sabah,” he said.

He also urged the department to study the RUU Biosecurity draft before it was tabled in parliament.

“We need to ensure the safety of the people of this state is guaranteed. The proposal to introduce the Plant Passport initiative must be studied to ensure it does not jeopardise the agriculture sector in Sabah,” he said.

Yahya also called on the department to act immediately on the quarantine enforcement following the implementation of the Ro-Ro ferry services starting February, this year between Buliluyan-Kudat and Sandakan-Zamboanga.

On the fisheries sector, he said that between 2012 and 2017, the Balance of Trade performance for fisheries products had seen an increase in the export of fisheries compared to imports.

The balance of trade was positive and between RM400 million and RM600 million per annum, he said.

“This shows that the importexport activities for the fisheries sector have generated income for the State’s economic growth,” he said.

He also said that the Fisheries Department had spent RM9,894,500 of the Federal allocation to implement six major projects, and RM10,385,000 of the State government allocation on the implementation of 34 projects.

For this year, he said an allocation of RM8.4 million from the Federal Government and RM10,330,000 from the State Government had been approved for the department.

Meanwhile, Ko-Nelayan had been allocated RM5.6 million to implement 14 development projects this year, he said.

Yahya also announced that the Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Industry (DOVSAI) is now known as the Department of Veterinary Services.

He said that the name change was done to ensure it was consistent with the same departments in Peninsular Malaysia and in Sarawak.

The new title for the department took effect from January 4, this year, he said, adding it also has a new logo.

He also said that the department would be carrying out its rabies disease control project and livestock food increase project this year.

Yahya also mentioned the growth of swiftlet farming in Sabah, citing that the department had registered 1,140 swiftlet houses in Sabah, 322 of which had been given the MyGAP certification.

“Presently, the average production of edible swiftlets nests in Sabah was 3.4 metric tonnes per month, estimated to be worth between RM15.3 million and RM41.0 million depending on their condition (raw-unclean or rawclean),” he said.

He also announced that Sabah remained rabies disease free last year and for this year, the government had planned to carry out a special project “Rabies control project” which would include the creation of an immune belt zone, the vaccination of rabies within the immune belt, the control of stray dogs population, the movement control of animals within districts, the control of imported pets as well as the introduction of microchips to ease tracibility.

Similarly, Yahya said that Sabah was also free of the Foot and Mouth Disease or FMD since 2004.

He said that this year, the department would carry out surveillance of the disease and improve the conditions for import control at all key entry points in Sabah.