TAMBUNAN: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry, Datuk Jamawi Jaafar, stated that local agricultural entrepreneurs play a crucial role in assisting the Government in decreasing reliance on food imports from abroad.
He mentioned that Sabah needs more viable agricultural entrepreneurs to boost the production of local vegetables and agricultural products for the people of the state.
“However, we also face challenges related to the import of agricultural products from Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Hopefully, we can find a win-win situation, and the ministry will always support local entrepreneurs.
“The important thing is that we can regulate production and subsequently help stabilize market prices,” he said during a working visit to several agricultural sites, here, today.
Among the locations visited were the Bio Floc Pond in Kampung Karas Maras, the Freshwater Fish Breeding Center at Mahua Station, Borneo Top, and Kampung Linuk.
During the visit, Jamawi had the opportunity to meet fish farming entrepreneur Barry Ronald, who has been cultivating red tilapia, black tilapia, and African catfish for the past two years.
He also visited Borneo Top, owned by Alan See, which engages in hydroponic and fertigation cultivation involving tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and chilies for marketing in the surrounding areas of Kota Kinabalu, Sarawak, and Brunei.
Jamawi also suggested that an association be established to collect planting data before it is submitted to the Department of Agriculture to assess the need for food imports from abroad.
He stated that this step would allow the Government to understand the actual production capacity of local farmers and entrepreneurs, thereby helping to reduce dependence on imports.
“So we will discuss with the Department of Agriculture to know the production capacity of farmers and other entrepreneurs. With that, we can reduce imports from abroad.” he said.
