“The market for food is getting bigger in Sarawak to make Agriculture a lucrative industry. For example, the volume of import for food products in the 90s was only RM600 million but now it has raised to RM2.8 billion. The market is getting bigger and yet to be fully exploited by members of the farming community.
Besides, the export volume of the agricultural products has also increased from RM1.1 billion to RM6 billion during the last 10 years. This truly reflects the State’s capability to increase export volume in the Agricultural sector. Obviously, there is no limit within the context of the Agricultural sector for members of the farming community to produce and sell their products to the market.
However, they must be prepared to work hard and use all the modern techniques of farming to increase output and raise the level of their income.”
Generally, farmers, gardeners, breeders and fishermen now know that their fates are in their own hands and they can improve them. The State government also takes cognizance after holding the Farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen day for a number of times of the necessity to intensify efforts to improve the livelihood of the farming community through working together and having discussions and cooperation among members; these three important elements must prevail in the common struggle to improve the livelihood of people in rural areas.
For this reason, Farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen day is being held regularly with the primary objective to promote appreciation of knowledge and co-operation among them in the common struggle to improve their standard of living. The growth in the agricultural sector started to decline in the 70s but it began to pick up again in the 90s.
Understandably, the share of the Agricultural sector in the economic cake or GDP is low as the economy becomes bigger. However, the standard of living of the agricultural practitioners comprising of farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen has improved greatly. The incidence of poverty in 1985 was 32% and now it has dropped to 5.3% only.
Quite obviously, the poor people living all over the place are mainly farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen, who have been able to improve their standard of living. Their success can be attributed to positive steps, as depicted in activities of Farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen day celebration, being taken by the government. Though efforts to improve the people, who are depending on agriculture for their livelihood, have been quite successful, they must be intensified as about 30% of the people still depend on it. In America, only 2% of the total population depends on the agricultural sector.
However, it is encouraging to see a growing decline in the number of people still involving in traditional agriculture; the number of those involved in shifting cultivation is negligible. In other words, there is a growing shift to modern agriculture from the traditional one. There are now about 160,000 people in estates as compared to 180,000 in the sector of smallholders. It can be anticipated that the figures will change as more and more people shift to work in the development of estate or plantation.
Besides, there will be continuous improvements in the management and marketing of the products, which will be increased with greater applications of inputs from research. Generally, efforts to modernize agriculture with greater application of research findings, better system of management and marketing should be able to improve the livelihood of the people. Undoubtedly members of the farming community comprising of farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen will be able to improve the quality of their products in order to fetch better prices.
Basically, the market for food is getting bigger in Sarawak to make Agriculture a lucrative industry. The potentials of agricultural industry are yet to be fully tapped by members of the farming community. For example, the volume of import for food products in the 90s was only RM600 million but now it has raised to RM2.8 billion. The market is getting bigger and yet to be fully exploited by members of the farming community. In other words, the opportunity is big and waiting to be tapped by members of the community.
Besides, the export volume of the agricultural products has also increased from RM1.1 billion to RM6 billion during the last 10 years. This truly reflects the State’s capability to increase export volume in the Agricultural sector. Obviously, there is no limit within the context of the Agricultural sector for members of the farming community to produce and sell their products to the market. For this reason, they must be prepared to work hard and use all the modern techniques of farming to increase output and raise the level of their income.
Opportunities for members of the farming community in the middle age group can be considered to be quite wide while those for the new generation have no limit; they are no longer confined to farming and gardening only. More and more women are getting involved in the development of industries. Unlike before, they will be spending less and less time to prepare for food for themselves and their families.
For this reason, it can be anticipated that more and more people will buy cooked or prepared food. For example, before people used to make their own cakes but now they buy them from the market; of course it is easier to buy rather than to make them. As a consequence, a person who has been making and selling cake like the traditional Kuih Lapis can become a millionaire.
All agricultural practitioners must be prepared to work hard to exploit opportunities that keep on growing in the agricultural sector to uplift our standard of living. They can start with the cottage industry to process food, which must have consistency of taste and quality in packaging. In this regard, the State Government would like to see more emphasis being made by Agriculture department through the extension workers to encourage greater understanding of processing, packaging and improvement in the branding of the cottage industry. Generally, farmers will have more potential in exporting their products by having consistency in taste and quality in packaging.
The packaging of products can help to make them attractive to customers. For example, cooked or processed products must be consistent in taste for them to become products of choice in the market. The volume of sale can increase manifolds if the products can be sold in Peninsula Malaysia. For example, Kuih Lapis has not been able to meet the demand of market there. We have not talked about the market in Singapore and other countries in this region yet. For this reason, we must have plans for market strategy, quality control, packaging and organization to export our products.
Obviously, members of the farming community in rural areas will have more opportunities to improve the quality of their livelihood provided they are prepared to work hard for the purpose. In this connection, the women movement at various levels must be used as a channel to improve the quality of their life. In other words, the quality of life can be made as incentive for the people to work hard to improve their livelihood.
The State will be pursuing a bigger transformation relating to processing of food, culture of fish using bio-tech processes in the development of SCORE. Now we can rear chickens without injecting them with anti-biotic to prevent the spread of diseases. Instead, the chickens can be fed with food containing enzyme now undergoing continuous research with a view to upgrade the quality and diversify the products. The food will be cleaner and healthier for consumption.
In other words, chickens will be fed with enzyme that does not require them to be injected with anti-biotic. Very soon Sarawak will have the capability to produce organic food for export anywhere in the world market. Once the people can raise the level of their income from the middle to high income, they may also prefer to eat organic food. This will be trend to change the way of life to become more comfortable, healthier and more hygienic.
Obviously, members of the farming community will have a lot of advantages by adopting a more efficient way to process their products in order to fetch good prices in the world market. The issue in the agricultural sector is no longer confined to the ownership of land any more. This has become a petty issue in the overall struggle of farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen to raise their standard of living.
The major consideration is how to increase the number of the farming community to practice better ways of processing food for bigger market. In this connection, a section in SCORE will focus on food processing using bio-technology and marketing of the products using specific brand. SCORE is studying ways how to export products that can be guaranteed of high quality from the aspects of hygiene, cleanliness and health from Tanjung Manis to the world Market.
It has become the responsibility of Muslims and Halal hub to ensure that food to be produced in Tanjung Manis will become premium food products in the near future. The value of Halal food market, according to a world survey, was US600 billion in 2009. It is expected to reach US1 trillion in the next five years. Obviously, the Halal food industry is a huge industry that can bring about tremendous changes in the way we develop the Halal hub in SCORE.
Regrettably, some people have been trying to instigate the people, purely to score political points, by making allegations that the government is forcing non Muslims to embrace Islam to produce Halal food. Let me say here, even big companies like Nestle is diversifying its products to meet the requirements of Halal market. We all know Nestle is Swiss company with the headquarters near Davos in Switzerland. It is not a Muslim company but it sees opportunities to make more profits from the World Halal market. All of us must know this new development.
Understandably, the State government will carry out research to diversify usage of oil palm in estates from Suai in Niah all the way to Betong and Sri Aman, which are huge and contiguous in nature. It simply means that the economy of scale is tremendous. We have been able to plan earlier variety of products that can be processed from oil palm and not merely to produce cooking oil as being done before. We shall be able to do so as Sarawak has been able to start quite early planning for a more sophisticated processing from physical to chemical processing for industrial products and straight to bio-tech processing technology. This will give us huge profits in future.
The whole farming community or all the people who are involved in agriculture, livestock rearing and deep sea fishing will be able to benefit from their endeavors. For example, fishermen will be taught the new way of rearing fish. Once they become good at it, they can rear fish with an understanding that their fish will be bought and processed by food processing industry at Tanjung Manis.
In other words, people can undergo training first on how to run an organic farm to culture fish or prawn or other products with a certain understanding that their products will be bought and processed by industries in Tanjung Manis in order to fetch good prices.
An area with a total acreage of 77,000 hectare is being allocated for organic farming in Tanjung Manis. A total 40,000 of hectares have already been allocated to a number of companies to set up their factories that will be able to create a lot of employment opportunities for the people, initially for the people in surrounding areas. Later, those opportunities will also spread to distant places. For example, the people in Paloh, Tanjung Sirik, Sarikei, Selalang, Kabong and Roban will have opportunities to take part in the development of the new economy in Tanjung Manis; some of them all the way to Tunoh in the North may also be involved in the production of food using bio-technology.
Obviously, the trend for the agricultural sector is to modernize it using in-depth knowledge and relevant expertise to become a modern industry; its importance will not decline in the overall development of the economy towards the year 2020 and beyond. The process will require more people with knowledge and relevant expertise to do research and more professionals to do management. Besides, farmers themselves must undergo various types of trainings to enable them to meet the demands of their new professions in pursuit for higher incomes.
I feel oblige to paint this kind of picture for example of a well organized development of Halal hub with all the modern practices that must be made to spread to other areas. The State government is studying the possibility of developing economic zone that can spread to Mukah and other places according to phases in the overall modernization of the Agricultural industry.
Besides, a study is being made how to duplicate the model created in Halal hub to be applicable in Kanowit, Kapit, Betong, Stumbin and other places. This is the kind of picture that members of the farming community must be able to visualize of the industry for future. It will be the new trend in the development of Agriculture for the whole of Sarawak. This will be the new way forward in the next 20 years in the overall efforts to raise the income levels of the farming community.
The people working in the agricultural sector should be able to earn higher income in future with continuous increases in the prizes of food and other agricultural products and more products can be made from palm oil. The new trend in the modernization of agriculture, beginning with the implementation of the 10th Malaysia Plan, will be able to vindicate the fate of farmers towards the year 2020 and beyond.
In other words, efforts to modernize the agricultural sector, through it may be small as compared to other sectors, should be able to uplift the quality of life of the farming community during the plan period.
However, there must be greater realization among farmers, growers, breeders and fishermen day, of the necessity to work harder to realize the common dreams of having better life in the migration from the middle to high income.
benuasains
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