By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Aug 24: Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin has said that she has requested more land from the Sarawak government for pepper farms.
Zuraida said the request was made to Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg so that the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) can plant pepper in the State in order to increase the quality of the country’s pepper products to meet international demand.
She stated this tonight at the ‘MPB-National Agricommodity Policy (DAKN) 2030 Pepper Sector Strategic Action Plan and MPB Service Award Ceremony’, which was held at a local hotel here.
“Malaysia is the world’s fifth largest producer of pepper, and the ministry hopes that the pepper sector will continue to contribute to the national economy through the agricommodity sector.
“This year, I travelled abroad for the country’s Agricommodity Tour series, and during meetings with external parties, they acknowledged that Malaysian pepper products are among the best in the world.
“We must find opportunities and space to market Malaysian pepper, and if we can meet the demand for a large quantity of pepper from abroad, pepper prices could skyrocket,” she said.
She continued by stating that because pepper is in high demand, the price may increase.
Furthermore, Zuraida noted that more land in Sarawak should be opened up for pepper cultivation in order to meet the current demand for pepper supply.
“Therefore, I have requested more land from the Sarawak government via Abang Johari so that MPB can plant pepper in the State to increase the quality of the country’s pepper products in order to meet international demand,” she disclosed.
She noted that Saraspice has been given the freedom to operate independently in order to support the marketing of Sarawak’s downstream products in international markets.
“We hope that the synergy between MPB and Saraspice will continue to strengthen the country’s pepper marketing,” Zuraida remarked.
The export value of pepper increased by 26 per cent to RM153.7 million in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Until the middle of this year, the country’s pepper industry increased its export performance to RM94.3 million, up from RM61.9 million in the same period in 2021.
The MPB Service Award Ceremony tonight is also significant because it recognises not only the excellence of 27 MPB officers and staff, but also 23 MPB members who have contributed devotional service throughout their service period with MPB. — DayakDaily
