Aquaponics to help lower income group
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry is planning to utilise the Aquaponics and Urban Farming Systems as a platform to help the state’s lower income household groups (B40) generate income.
KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry is planning to utilise the Aquaponics and Urban Farming Systems as a platform to help the state's lower income household groups (B40) generate income.
Its minister Datuk Junz Wong said the ministry was seeking to provide a total of 100 grants for free, yearly.
“We will give free grants (to carry out the said system) to the village folk and anyone who is interested in carrying out the system, be it for business reasons or for them to feed their own family.
“However, they (the applicants) must fulfill the requirements. They must be in the B40 group,” he told reporters after briefing them about the said system at his office, yesterday.
Aquaponics is a system of growing crops and fish together in a recirculating system; in other words, it is an alternative method for cultivating produce and protein.
Urban farming is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas. Simply put, it is a concept of growing or producing food in a city or a heavily populated town.
Junz had even tried carrying out the system inside his own office building and it had turned out to be successful.
“If this system can be successfully carried out in this building, I am sure the village folk would have no problem of doing it in their own homes,” he added.
He said his ministry would also be providing training and equipment for those who are interested and eligible.
“If this system becomes a hit and everyone starts planting, it will also eventually be a hit for Sabah as a whole,” he added.