200 acres planted with MD3 pineapples in Kota Marudu
KINABALU: Sabah Rubber Industry Board (LIGS) has already started planting 200 acres of land at Kampung Gana, Kota Marudu with the MD3 pineapples since last year.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said this was under the federal Economy Ministry’s People Income Initiative programme (IPR Intan) which LIGS was entrusted to carry out.
“This is our initial step in the effort to increase the income of rubber smallholders who were involved, and contribute to the nation’s economy,” he said.
Jeffrey was represented by his assistant minister Peto Galim at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between LIGS and Rompin Integrated Pineapple Industries Sdn Bhd (Rompine) and Una Crop Sdn Bhd at the Sabah International Convention Centre on Tuesday.
The state minister added that LIGS this year aspires to expand the success of the programme by developing another piece of land of about 300 acres for the planting of MD2 pineapples.
“This is evidence of our commitment to ensuring that this programme not only succeeds in the first year but continues to grow and benefit more smallholders in the future.
“Relying solely on the MD2 pineapple yield will not allow for significant impact, thus LIGS is now aiming to further expand the potential of the pineapple industry to explore packaging and processing of MD2 pineapples,” he said.
Jeffrey also said the expected yield, which is set to begin at the end of October this year, will be added value so that participants can earn better income.
“On behalf of the Sabah government, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Ministry of Economy for their continuous support of all development projects planned by LIGS,” he said.
On the MoU, he said that it marks another important milestone in the state government’s efforts to elevate the MD2 pineapple industry in Sabah.
He said the MoU between LIGS and Rompine will ensure that all cultivated MD2 pineapple yields have a stable market and contribute to building a sustainable pineapple industry ecosystem.
“The MoU signed also symbolises the cooperation between the state governments of Pahang and Sabah. I am confident that there will be more collaborations that can be forged between the two states in the future,” said Jeffrey.
Meanwhile, Peto told reporters after the event that 450 villagers were involved in the planting of the MD2 pineapples in the first phase of the project.
“We’re expecting the involvement of thousands of people in the second phase,” he said.
He added that the project will be expanded to other districts, and they are expecting a harvest of about 5,000 tonnes from the first phase which is expected to generate an income of about RM20 million.
Also present at the event were LIGS general manager Sabdil Tanjong, and Tanah Makmur Berhad chief executive officer cum Rompine chairman Dato Shahrul Nizam Abdul Aziz.