AgroBIZ programme welcomes public participation

Shell LiveWIRE Brunei's agropreneurial scheme AgroBiz has opened itself up, welcoming members of the public to join alongside IBTE students in their rice farming programme, with more short courses for the public opening up in the upcoming weeks.

This was said by Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) In-Country Value Manager and Shell LiveWIRE Brunei Chairman, Hjh Rosita Hj Hassan during a contract signing ceremony for AgroBiz's third batch of participants which was held at IBTE's Agrotechnology Campus in Kg Wasan.

In an interview with The Bruneian, Hjh Rosita explained there have been plenty expressions of interest by the public in regards to the AgroBiz programme since it was established and due to this, Shell LiveWIRE Brunei in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) established AgroBiz Plus to meet those demands.

“We opened registration on 6th July until the end of the month, with the Youth Development Centre conducting the registration and the vetting process. Once chosen these members of the public will join our latest cohort of students from IBTE and will be given technical and practical training on how to become a commercial farmer,” she said.

This is in line with the scheme's objective of supporting the current national aspiration towards strengthening food security and to develop a generation of agropreneurs, continued Hjh Rosita, adding that a number of initiatives have been looked into based on feedback from the communities that the scheme has impacted.

In light of this, she also revealed that AgroBIZ will also be conducting short courses specifically for the public beginning next month, however, she mentioned that the content of these short courses will lean heavily towards organic forms of agriculture.

“The demand for growing organic seems to be increasing in Brunei, we often get enquiries from the public in regards to this, so with the short courses, which will be conducted only on Sunday, will look into organic farming practices such as sustainable preparation of the land and how to create their own organic fertiliser,” said Hj Arine Hj Budin, Project Manager of AgroBIZ.

Both Hjh Rosita and Hj Arine said that they were heartened by the level of interest the scheme has garnered from the public and expressed hopes that this trend would continue and that more and more Bruneian's would look into sustainable ways of farming.

During the contract signing ceremony, the Brunei Shell LiveWIRE AgroBiz scheme welcomed seven new participants who will undergo extensive business and agricultural training in the 14 months alongside participants of AgroBIZ Plus.

Also present during the ceremony was IBTE's CEO Dr Mohd Zamri Hj Sabli and Shell LiveWIRE Brunei Programme Director, Hj Abdul Yusrin DSLJ Hj Mohd Salleh.