Nogeh urges youths to become agropreneurs
BAU: Young Sarawakians are encouraged to become agropreneurs to meet the increasing demand for food in the country.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Dato Anthony Nogeh said Malaysians including Sarawakians should venture into the agriculture business to reduce the country’s dependence on imported food.
He said the country spends billions of ringgit each year to import agricultural products to meet the demand of the domestic market.
“Therefore I encourage our young people to become agropreneurs because there is great potential in the food industry.
“The more youths become agropreneur, the better it is for our country because we need to produce our own food so that we can reduce our food import bills,” he said at the launch of the Kelulut Agropreneur Worskhop at the Civic Centre here yesterday.
About 200 participants from Mas Gading parliamentary constituency attended the workshop organised by the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (Mardi).
Nogeh, who is Mas Gading MP, said in the past people did agriculture for self-consumption but today the entire network of agriculture is not just about rearing and planting anymore, but it is also about producing, processing, packaging and marketing.
He pointed out that agriculture today is a sector that promises high income.
Aside from stingless bee rearing for honey, young Sarawakians should also venture in other food production and processing derived from local fruits.
“If you want, you can also plant papaya because we have
The more youth become agropreneur, the better it is for our country because we need to produce our own food so that we reduce our food import bills. — Dato Anthony Nogeh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry
found a solution to treat papaya diseases, which also enable the papaya to continue bearing good and healthy fruits.
“In Sarawak, for instance, we already have an icon product containing dabai fruit called ‘Dabai Ice Cream.’
“There are many more iconic products produced in Sarawak and I encourage our young agropreneurs to produce products the world has not produced.
“Imagine there are millions or billions of people who will look at your products and buy them as they are one of a kind in the world,” he said.
Nogeh said the Kelulut Agroprenuer Workshop was just one of the ongoing programmes organised by his Ministry in Mas Gading to encourage and create awareness on the potential of agrobusiness.
He said before this he had brought representatives from Tekun to inform the people about the Tekun loan and gave away fish fries and feedstock to fish farmers.
“These are among the programmes initiated by the government to get closer to the rakyat,” he said.
At the event, Nogeh presented grants to selected young agropreneurs for them to upgrade their existing projects or businesses.