Soil cannot be brought into Sabah – director
KOTA KINABALU: Soil is not allowed to be brought into Sabah to prevent the spread of diseases that are harmful to agriculture industries.
Sabah Agriculture Department director Datuk Idrus Shafie disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) seminar for exporters of agricultural produce to Brunei Darussalam and Sarawak yesterday.
He informed the participants that they cannot bring soil from outside of Sabah, when the matter was raised by a farmer who wanted to bring in durian seedlings from Peninsular Malaysia.
The farmer argued that the seedlings needed to remain being planted in the soil, or they would not survive when replanted in Sabah.
“Perhaps the soil here in not suitable for it,” he said, adding that bringing in soil from outside of Sabah was a definite no-no as it might bring in pathogens and diseases that could kill industries, such as the Limau Manis Beaufort.
A total of 115 participants took part in the seminar where they were informed about the dos and dont’s of importing and exporting agriculture produce.
They were also informed that they cannot bring into Sabah even a single fruit without a permit from the Agriculture Department here.
In his speech, Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Junz Wong urged agriculture producers in Sabah to adopt the Good Agriculture Practices and attain the certifications for them such as myGAP and myOrganic.
According to Junz, the certifications are the direct proof that their farms have adopted GAP and will enable them to compete in the international market.
Junz who was represented by Idrus, said that this would help raise consumers’ confidence on the quality and safety of Sabah’s agriculture products. He reminded them of the 1992 incidence when Brunei Darussalam refused to allow the entry of vegetables from Sabah due to their high pesticides level.
“As a result of that, Sabah has lost its overseas market while farmers lost a lucrative economic resource as the vegetables supplied were endangering consumers,” he said.
Due to that, the Agriculture Department, Pesticides Board, Health Department and FAMA had endeavored to address the problem by implementing the GAP and myGAP and myOrganic certifications, he said.
He also said that the agriculture industry in Sabah, namely in the production of vegetables and fruits, had attained 21,902.2 hectares as of 2017.
The production is 43,593.1 tonnes, he said.
He also mentioned that Sabah exported 436.44 tonnes to Brunei Darussalam. This produced an income of RM603,408 for the State.
Meanwhile, Idrus when speaking to press members later stressed the urgent need for Sabah to start increasing its production of agriculture food products.
“We need to start now as it will take time (for the industry to grow),” he said.
He added that the state had been too focused on the oil palm sector which used more than 90 percent of Sabah’s agriculture land.
He reminded that the European nations plan to outlaw biodiesel that is not certified by the year 2023.
Idrus also cautioned the state’s dependence on imported food, stating the need for food security.
“We will position Sabah as a food producer,” he said, adding that the state will focus on the production of coconuts, durians and pineapples.