Closer Look At Agricultural Practices In Malaysia
By Rosli Abidin Yahya in Kuala Lumpur

Bandar Seri Begawan - Some 42 farmers and entrepreneurs from various agricultural sectors in the Sultanate ended their week-long visit to Malaysia with a motivational seminar in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday evening conducted by experts to encourage and guide them towards involvement in agrobusiness industry.

After witnessing the success of agricultural entrepreneurs from I1 Malaysian states at the Malaysian Agriculture and Horticulture exhibition (MAHA) 2006 in Serdang, Putrajaya, the delegation visited agricultural farms and cottage-industry establishments in Selangor and Malacca.

They first went to a ginger farm in Banting, Selangor. The 5,000-hectare plot was operated by 30 contract farmers and exports ginger to Singapore and other countries. They observed how mixed crop rotation farming of ginger, bananas and potatoes would recycle the soil in preparation for the next ginger-planting season. The delegation also visited a food industry establishment and heard a rags-to-riches story from the company's managing director who claimed that he never attended school in his life because of poverty.

Encik Tarmizi, Managing Director of Jamirah Food Industries (M) Sdn Bhd said his factory now produced potato chips for the Malaysian market as well as foreign countries including Brunei Darussalam and Gulf nations.

"I used to sell potato chips at school canteens but now after revolutionising the production of my product into global acceptance, my turnover is about RM4.2 million annually," he said.

The Brunei delegation also saw how cottage-industry businesses can turn into money-spinning ventures such as the coffee-processing plant in Banting.

"Our company imports coffee beans from Surabaya and processes it towards local flavour, and now this small factory cannot meet demand to supply coffee to establishments in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor," said the operator.

For paddy farmers who joined the delegation, they saw thousands of hectares of land being turned into paddy farms to partly supply 60 per cent of the local demand for rice. One hectare of land can produce seven tonnes of rice and the relevant authority is trying to push the farmers to increase the output to 10 tonnes per hectare.

According to the head of delegation, Hj Matzin Hj Salleh, director of AgriDev Sdn Bhd, Brunei produces two tonnes of paddy per hectare for a once-a-year harvest. "The farmers were able to see how output per hectare can be maximised by applying technology and practising good farming techniques," he said.

The visitors went to Malacca too to visit fresh-water fish rearing operated by a Malaysian married to a woman from Brunei.

Amir Hasran said he is able to earn $1,000 a day selling fresh-water fish which he rears at the back of his house on a five-acre piece of land.

The visitors also visited the Fishermen's Association of West Malacca, which is able to upgrade the living standards of farmers in the area.

"We have won both national and state-level awards. But we were very satisfied when the association managed to improve the standard of living of farmers here," said the chairman of the association.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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