KOTA KINABALU: The Ministry of Agriculture & Food Industry has outlined six main strategies to transform the agriculture sector to a commendable level by 2020.
Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin who was reappointed as Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Agriculture & Food Industry said the ministry will also focus on increasing the private sector participation.
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| Photo Credit: New Sabah Times |
“The ministry will also pay attention to the development of agricultural entrepreneurs and increase the income of target groups such as the hardcore poor and the low-income groups.
“We want to increase the contribution of agriculture to the GDP(Gross Domestic Product) by improving productivity and creating added-value products,” he said.
He was speaking when delivering his address at a meeting with heads of departments and senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture & Food Industry at Wisma Pertanian here yesterday.
Also present were the two Assistant Ministers of Agriculture & Food Industry Minister Datuk Musbah Jamli and Datuk Sairin Karno.
Yahya said that in line with the ministry’s mission and core strategy, it will implement various programmes which include providing efficient irrigation and drainage infrastructure.
“To boost rice production in the State, the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) and Economic Initiation Programme (EPP) II in Kota Belud will be implemented with a target of planting 4,500 hectares of rice on a commercial scale to produce an average of 5.5 metric tons per hectare by 2018 at a cost of RM305 million.
“The 12,200 hectares of rice fields in Kota Belud now produce 40,300 tons of rice. By 2020 a total of 5,000 hectares will be developed at a cost of RM340 million to grow rice twice a year and this is expected to increase the yield from 5.0 tons per hectare to 8.5 tons per hectare,” he said.
He said it also expected to produce 91,600 tons of rice from 2,200 hectares that produce 3.0 tons per hectare in water catchment areas and that the Kota Belud Farmers Association have been appointed as the operator for commercial planting.
“The main goal of my ministry is that in the end, rice production in the State will achieve an adequacy level of 60 per cent,” he said. As of 2011, self-sufficiency for rice is 20.86 per cent or 83,313 tonnes of production, fruits (87.74 per cent), vegetables (56.90 per cent) and corn (1.70 per cent).
The Department of Agriculture will implement five development strategies for fruits and vegetables through the Permanent Food Production Park.
There are six Permanent Food Production Parks in Sabah located in Mile 15, Tawau (96 ha), Sungai Koyah in Kinabatangan parks (80 ha), Sungai Lokan in Kinabatangan (732 ha), Putatan (five ha) and Mesilau (15 ha ) which are estimated to create over 3,290 jobs by 2020.
The Rural Development Corporation (KPD) will also focus on high-value products that are bioeconomy-based.
“Bioeconomy means economic activity that applies biotechnology in the production process,” he said.
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