KUCHING: Sarawak is ready to play its part in increasing food production to meet national needs and for export.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said today this follows requests from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the former chairman of the Council of Eminent Persons, Tun Daim Zainuddin.
“The PM asked if we could produce more food products and agricultural produce. Tun Daim has met with me and also asked us to help from the aspect of food production.
“I said anytime, as long as you give (sufficient) funds to Sarawak (to finance efforts to increase food production),” he said when addressing the Rindok Digital@ Simunjan programme in Simunjan, about 90km from here.
According to Abang Johari, the impact of climate change in Sarawak is not significant because its ecosystem is still balanced, enabling its agriculture sector not to be so affected and as such, due attention could be given to increasing food production.
The chief minister said new technology with the capacity to increase food production had been identified and farmers needed to prepare themselves with the knowledge to use such technology.
He added that the state government, through its agriculture-related agencies, had provided various forms of training to enable agricultural entrepreneurs to learn new technologies and apply them in their operations.
“Technology has simplified our way of life. If we want to change our state, we need to use new methods to increase the value of our products,” he said. – Jan 10, 2020 Bernama
