KOTA KINABALU: The State Government has allocated a total of RM561.81 million under the 2022 Budget to ensure sustained productivity and quality of Sabah\u2019s agricultural products.
\nChief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said it was also to ensure that Sabah\u2019s Self-Sufficiency Level (SSL) is increased annually through various modernisation initiatives.
\nHe said the agriculture sector which covers crops, livestock and fishery is one of the three main economic sectors of the five-year Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Development Plan from 2021.
\nThe other two main economic sectors in the Hala Tuju SMJ Plan are the manufacturing industry and tourism, which among others are to build a united, peaceful and prosperous state and society, optimise state resources and revenue and improve the people\u2019s economy.
\nSpeaking at the 12th Edition of the Livestock, Aquaculture and Agriculture (LAA Sabah) Exhibition at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here on Friday, he said the economic growth will be driven by a faster-than-expected recovery in consumer demand, greater investor confidence, and consequently a more robust recovery in domestic economic activity.
\nHajiji said Sabah is among the main exporters of fresh fish produce in Malaysia, contributing RM2.03 billion or about 15.7 percent annually to the state\u2019s Gross Domestic Product.
\n\u201cThe State Government is focusing on downstream processing for its capture fishery into high-quality products. With the Federal empowerment on deep sea fishing to the Fisheries Department of Sabah, there are huge potentials for investors to venture into deep fishing and related downstream industries,\u201d he said.
\nHajiji said the prospect remained bright for the livestock sector as further expansion and effective improvement in key strategic enablers is in sight that will enhance the value chain systems of the entire industry.
\n\u201cBy 2030, the population of buffalo and cattle will be 26,248 head and 148,305 head respectively. The SSL for beef is projected to increase throughout the period until it reaches 21.3 per cent by 2030,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe agriculture industry is an important contributor to the Malaysian Economy by providing rural employment, uplifting rural income and ensuring national food security. It also acts as a catalyst and key pillar to the country\u2019s export,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThis is also an opportune time seeing that East Malaysia itself is a growth market for the agriculture, livestock and fishery and aquaculture,\u201d he said, adding that Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan have a total combined population of 6 million in 2021.
\nSabah\u2019s agriculture sector alone contributed 15.9 per cent to the State\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021, the third highest contribution after its services sector at 47 per cent and mining and quarrying at 26 per cent.
\nOn the LAA Sabah concurrently held with the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism (MAHA 2022), the Chief Minister believed it would serve as an invaluable platform for participants to develop business partnerships, build new networks and to catch up on the latest industry trends.
\nWith the commitment and efforts of the government in transforming this sector plus the rapid development of information technology and communication, the agriculture sector is still promising despite some issues and challenges.
\n\u201cI am confident that the agriculture sector will prevail despite some issues and challenges and will continue to grow with the commitment and efforts of the government in transforming this sector coupled with the rapid development of information technology and communication,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KOTA KINABALU: The State Government has allocated a total of RM561.81 million under the 2022 Budget to ensure sustained productivity and quality of Sabah\u2019s agricultural products. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said it was also to ensure that Sabah\u2019s Self-Sufficiency Level (SSL) is increased annually through various modernisation initiatives. He said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14405,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14403\/revisions\/14405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}