JV in place to revive paddy-planting in Bongawan
KOTA KINABALU: The paddy farmers in Bongawan, a small farming town located 60 kilometers from here, recently had their hope of rehabilitating their long-abandoned paddy fields renewed with the help of Sunnata Agritec Sdn Bhd (Sunnata), a Seremban-based paddy-farming company.
A group of 30 of them became the first batch of landowners to sign up for the Abandoned Paddy Fields Rehabilitation Scheme (APFRS) offered by Sunnata which was facilitated by its local joint-venture (JV) partner Kumpulan Perkasa.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony was held at the Bongawan Multipurpose Hall last Thursday, and was officiated by Dr Daud B. Yusof, the Assistant Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Minister cum Bongawan Assemblyman.
Also present at the occasion were, Sabah Agriculture Department Director Datuk Idrus Shafie, Sabah Fisheries and Fishermen Development Corporation (Ko-Nelayan) chairman Awang Ahmad Shah Sahari, Papar District Officer Adnan Atin, Sunnata Executive Director Me Teo, its General Manager Zen Mak, and Director of Kumpulan Perkasa Chua Heng Lim.
Speaking to reporters after officiating at the signing ceremony, Dr Daud pointed out that if properly and successfully implemented, the said pilot project involving around 400 acres of abandoned paddy fields situated in Kampung Pauh, Kg Luagan, Kg Sabang, and Kg Laut would benefit around 5,000 to 6,000 Bongawan folks.
He was also confident that Sunnata would be able to not just help rehabilitate the abandoned paddy fields in Bongawan, but also help transform paddy farming in Sabah towards achieving the goal of 60% self-sufficient level (SSL) in rice production.
“We understand that besides introducing the latest paddy cultivating technology, Sunnata will also bring in modern machineries from China to address the pressing issue of labour shortage,” he said.
Acknowledging that paddy fields in Bongawan and its surrounding area are under the threat of rapid development, such as emergence of new townships, residential housing estates and highways construction, Dr Daud assured that the State government and his ministry are taking necessary measures to prevent further loss of such lands.
“There are still plenty of lands which are currently either abandoned or unutilised in Papar District, especially in Sg Padang, Surati, Kelanahan, Benoni, etc.
“We welcome investors including government agency like FELCRA, to come and invest in Papar. Besides paddy farming, Bongawan is also suitable for Pandan coconut farming,” he added.
Meanwhile, Idrus in his speech earlier expressed his full support to the Abandoned Paddy Fields Rehabilitation Scheme which facilitates the amalgamation of smaller plots of paddy fields to make it feasible for large-scale commercial paddy farming.
“In fact, we have been thinking of (implementing) this model in the past, but we just don't have any real takers,” he said.
He also noted that one of the major contributing factors to abandoned paddy fields in Sabah was due to rapid development which inevitably caused disruption to the irrigation network, besides usurping the paddy lands.
Besides this, he also cautioned both the participating farmers and the developer against repeating the past fiascos of similar JV schemes, as the result of not honouring the JV agreement entered into.
“The JV must be a ‘fair-andwin-win' deal for both parties involved where, the landowners must honour the agreement entered into with the investors, and the latter should pay the farmers accordingly, on time.
“As for us in the Agriculture Department, we will provide all the necessary cooperation and assistance within our authority to ensure the success of this JV scheme,” he said.
When approached later, Teo explained that his company decided to expand its paddy farming operation to Sabah as it was difficult to find suitable lands for large-scale paddy cultivation in Peninsular Malaysia nowadays.
He also thanked his local JV partner Kumpulan Perkasa for helping the company to identify abandoned paddy fields that have good potential for rehabilitation.
“Among them are those lands located in Papar District; there is an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 acres with half of them suitable for rehabilitation,” he said.
He then revealed that besides bringing in new technology and machineries, the company will also be using mostly environmentallyfriendly organic fertiliser, instead of chemical fertiliser, so as to improve the quality of the soil.
“Through this scheme, we intend to facilitate the transfer of advanced farming technology besides mechanisation to reduce dependence on labour, as it's difficult to get workers nowadays.
“We will also conduct substantial Research and Development (R&D) to facilitate cultivation of dry paddy at areas where the irrigation system is lacking, or not good.
“In the pilot scheme, we are targeting 1,000 acres and we will continue to expand to 5,000 acres within two years. We are also interested in other areas like Kota Belud and Kota Marudu where there are a lot of abandoned lands,” he added.