By Christine T
KUCHING, Nov 9: The success of Sarawak’s agricultural training institutions should be measured not by the number of graduates they produce, but by how many go on to secure employment, establish viable businesses, and contribute to the State’s agricultural industry.
The call was made during the 21st Convocation Ceremony and 40th anniversary celebration of the Sarawak Agriculture Institute at Imperial Hotel Kuching, where 90 graduates were recognised for completing their respective studies.
Deputy Minister for Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development (M-FICORD) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, on behalf of Minister Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom, said agricultural education must go beyond basic farming skills, with graduates expected to understand business management, technology, market demands and ways to generate economic value from agricultural products.
“We need graduates who not only know how to perform a job, but are also able to think, solve problems, and improve work processes,” he said.
He outlined three priorities for strengthening Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in agriculture: aligning training with actual industry requirements, deepening cooperation between training institutions and industry players, and assessing graduates’ ability to apply their skills in real working environments.
He said industry cooperation should go beyond student placements to include expertise sharing, technology exposure, joint projects and feedback on graduates’ competencies.
“Certification and accreditation are important foundations for quality assurance, but we must also look at how far graduates are able to apply their skills in actual employment and businesses,” he said.
On agricultural entrepreneurship, he said the sector should be viewed as a value chain covering production, processing, packaging, marketing, and distribution.
He also urged aspiring agropreneurs to understand market opportunities, customer needs, production costs, and pricing, while exploring value-added processing to improve the commercial potential of agricultural products.
“Agricultural entrepreneurship does not necessarily have to begin with large capital. What matters is business understanding, management discipline and the willingness to learn and improve,” he said. — DayakDaily
