Diversify your economic activities, local oil palm smallholders reminded
KUCHING: Oil palm planters in Sarawak, especially the independent smallholders, are encouraged to diversify their economic activities to ensure that they would have more sources of income.
According to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, aside from oil palms, the smallholders could also venture in the rearing of ‘kelulut’ (stingless) bees, cattle or goat.
“I have been talking all this while – don’t rely on a single crop. You must go for multiple crops or economic activities.
“That is why there is a change in the state government’s policy, whereby we are giving subsidy to a family that is planting more than one crop to assist them in having two or three sources of income,” he told reporters after officiating at the opening ceremony of the International Biohealth Science Conference 2017 in a hotel here yesterday.
Uggah, who is also Modern is at ion of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister, said within smallholding oil palm plantation, local farmers could also go into mushroom- growing or cattle rearing so that should there be a drop in one commodity price, another commodity could cushion such impact.
Moreover, the state government is also encouraging farmers in Sarawak to go into planting of fruits such as durians, rambutans or even pineapples, apart from oil palm plantation, he added.
“That is the strategy that we should be taking so that we would not ‘ be held ransom’ by some selfish people who try to take care of their own interest rather than our interest,” he said.
For the oil palm industry in Sarawak, Uggah said the state is currently looking at the master plan in which it is targeting two million hectares of the state’s land mass to be planted with oil palms.
“Now we are looking into how to develop the downstream (industry), increasing the downstream products for the oil palm in Sarawak because if compare ourselves with Sabah, we are still behind even in the downstream production,” he said.
On the recent decision by the European Union ( EU) on market reformation, Uggah said it was a ‘very unfortunate’ decision for oil palm growers, adding that the state government was very disappointed with that decision because it would affect the independent smallholders in Sarawak.
He believed that the reduction of supply could affect pricing, noting that the EU’s decision to ban the use of oil palm in biofuel would also affect the production of the producing country.
According to Reuters report dated Jan 18, European lawmakers have approved draft measures to reform the power market in the region and reduce energy consumption to meet more ambitious climate goals. The plan includes the ban on the use of palm oil in motor fuels, beginning 2021.
Malaysia is the world’s second largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, and the two countries together account for nearly 90 per cent of global output.
Exports of the edible oil are a key source of revenue for Malaysia, with the EU being its No 2 export market.
Palm oil can be used as a substitute for crude oil in making biofuel.
A large portion of European palm oil imports are used to make biofuels – the EU decision has given the industry a cause for concern as the producers fear overall demand would drop.