By Shikin Louis
SIBU, Dec 18: The Sarawak government will channel seed capital for the Ministry of Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development (M-FICORD) to provide incentives for coffee planting in Selangau, says Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He believes that now is the right time for Sarawak to venture into the coffee industry, especially when machines are available to process coffee beans directly into coffee drinks.
He also recounted his visit to the University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) yesterday (Dec 17), where a shop brewed coffee from coffee beans, not coffee powders.
“One cup costs RM4. This means if we try to plant coffee and our coffee is specially grown by Selangau folk, the price for the special coffee beans could increase and become extra income to our farmers.
“For starters, I will request the M-FICORD Minister Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom to provide incentives for coffee planting in Selangau because that particular terrain is just nice for coffee planting.
“I support this idea, and we will allocate seed capital to the Ministry for this project,” he said when officiating the opening ceremony of the Selangau Riverfront and Selangau District Office building today.
At the same time, Selangau MP Edwin Banta, during his speech earlier, stated that he and Tamin assemblyman Christopher Gira Sambang are working together with the Agriculture Department and local community leaders to promote coffee farming by distributing Liberica coffee seeds to longhouses that express interest in coffee farming. — DayakDaily
