New committee to help smallholding fruit farmers reach new heights
KUCHING: A coordinating committee, to be chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, will be formed soon.
The objective behind the setting up of the joint committee by the Department of Agriculture and the Malaysia Fruit Farmers Association (MFFA) is to help smallholding fruit farmers in Sarawak succeed in their ventures. It is also to study any proposal made by the association members on possible participation in the sector.
These were among the decisions reached during a meeting between the MFFA members, led by their president Hong Jok Hon, and Uggah at the ministry’s office here yesterday.
MFFA vice-president Dato Chong Yew Chee, MFFA Sarawak chairman Tho Tze Bing and MFFA Sabah chairman Dato Ting Siew Haw were also present.
Uggah said MFFA members could bring in their experiences, knowledge and technical expertise as they also had excellent marketing ties with key markets like China, Singapore and Taiwan.
“The state agriculture sector is focusing on efforts to make Sarawak a net food and food products producer by 2030. Toward this end, it has identified an estimated two million hectares (of land) across Sarawak for the development of modern agriculture.
“We will conduct studies to identify the soil types and the best crop for each type of soil, and we certainly welcome the association’s participation,” said Uggah, who is also the Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development.
It is reported that there are 250,000 smallholding farmers in Sarawak.
“We want them (smallholders) to go into modern and commercial agriculture instead of producing (produce) only for