Senate President calls on Ba Kelalan rice farmers to intensify promotion
Senate President Datuk Mutang Tagal has sent a special greeting in conjunction with the Adan Rice Festival 2024 in Ba Kelalan.
In his special greeting, he calls upon Lun Bawang farmers to continue producing the Adan rice and promote it as one of Ba Kelalan’s unique features not only nationwide, but also internationally.
“This is an annual event for us to promote Ba Kelalan as the production hub for the high quality Adan rice.
“As a Lun Bawang, I am proud to introduce the Adan rice to everyone, our signature rice with special texture and good taste,” he said in a video message in Lun Bawang Language.
Meanwhile, during the opening ceremony of the Adan Rice Festival 2024 yesterday, Mutang, who hails from Buduk Nur in Ba Kelalan, called upon local rice farmers to double crop their Adan rice production and use their own branding to reach commercial production and economic returns.
This should include the branding and packaging of the Adan rice to reflect its premium organic status.
On that note, he called upon the Ba Kelalan farming community to collaborate and initiate commercial production of Adan rice that would bring bigger economic benefits to the community.
“Farmers must innovate and embrace mechanisation and automation without neglecting the quality of this premium organic Adan rice.
“Once this effort has been carried out, the Ba Kelalan farming community can apply cooperation, assistance and support from state and federal government agencies, especially in the field of research and development, branding, promotion and the marketing of Adan rice to the international market.”
“For now, Adan rice is also only planted once a year, and more comprehensive studies by government agencies such as Mardi (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) and local universities are needed to make double cropping feasible,” he said.
Also present during the festival’s opening ceremony were Dewan Negara Deputy Speaker Senator Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad, Lawas MP Datuk Henry Sum Agong, Sarawak Federal Secretary Datuk Ahmad Nadzri Mohd Hassan, and Ninth Infantry Brigade of Malaysia commander Brig-Gen Ahmad Norzaini Badrun.
The two-day Adan Rice Festival 2024 features various activities such as ‘Jamuan Rakyat’ (Feast for the People), folks sports, traditional dance performances, cultural shows and a showcase of Lun Bawang cuisines.
Mutang said the uniqueness of the organic Adan rice was that it was cultivated using traditional methods that had been passed down from generation to generation, with irrigation sourced from water from nearby mountain streams.
“Adan rice has intellectual property rights and is recognised as premium organic rice, and I hope that the Ba Kelalan farming community would take initiative to produce it commercially and promote its unique quality and the value of this Adan rice,” he said.
Mutang also believed that the Malaysian Parliament could play a role in connecting the Ba Kelalan farming community to the federal and state agencies, all ready to help when necessary.
He also expressed his satisfaction with the proposed infrastructure development in Ba Kelalan which would start implementation in the coming years, including roads, water treatment facility, electricity grid connectivity and improved internet connectivity.
This, he said, would enable the Ba Kelalan community to develop their land and start producing more fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers that are only found in highland areas, rivalling commercial crop production hubs of Kundasang in Sabah and Cameron Highlands in Pahang.
“This will produce additional income apart from Adan rice production, tourism and economic benefits,” he said.
“Ba Kelalan, with its rich abundance of flora and fauna, has great potential to be marketed and promoted as an ecological tourism destination,” he added.