KUCHING, March 31: The Sarawak government wants to help local farmers, especially those in the B40 group, to earn RM6,000 in household income per month by 2030.
In order to do so, Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom urged them to adopt modern farming methods to gain greater income.
Speaking at the launch of the Sarawak Farmer’s Association (PPNS) 36th annual general meeting dinner last night, Rundi told some 179 members who attended the event to make use of this time to discuss how to grow their respective farms and achieve greater heights.
“This is a good time for all of us to look back and see what we have done in the past years and plan to improve for the future. It is only with planning and adopting modern farming techniques will we be able to move forward.
“We must improve the lives of our local farmers even if it means trying as many ways and means possible. That is why we want to move subsistence farming into agro-preneurship and full-fledged commercialisation. That is the only way to move the agro-industry,” Rundi said.
PPNS has about 176,000 registered members.
He acknowledged that the association has several projects planned between 2021 and 2025, and some have been implemented.
However, to achieve the desired success, Rundi asserts that there must be strong cooperation between PPNS, farmers, entrepreneurs, the private sector and related government agencies and this must be intensified.
He added that PPNS was also given a special task to market agricultural products produced by Sarawakian farmers.
“My ministry and several related agencies will help to ensure all services and business activities are beneficial for everyone and at the same time able to upgrade farmer’s socio-economy successfully. It is not going to be an easy task, but if we have the means and ways, we can do it.
“We have agricultural programmes such as agropark, Sarawak Agro Technology Park (SARTECH), Center Collection, Processing and Packaging (CPPC) or Food Terminal and Smart Farming Farm to increase agricultural production. With this, as well as high and large market demand for agricultural produce, I am confident that everyone’s efforts will yield positive results. — DayakDaily
