Tuna products with M'sian identity

SERDANG: Malaysian entrepreneurs are now more creative that they have been able to produce tuna-based food products with Malaysian identity, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said Saturday.He named some of the products as satay, burger and nugget.

"Now, tuna is not only used to make 'singgang' and in 'nasi dagang'," he told reporters after unveiling the tuna innovation product by the Fisheries Department and Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara (UiTM) on the third day of the Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen's Day (HPPNK) celebration at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) here today.

As such, he urged operators involved in the country's fishing industry to fully utilise the Malaysian quota of 135 vessel for tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean.

So far, only 12 of the quota had been taken up, he said.

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Ahmad Shabery said the quota of 135 vessel per year for tuna fishing was obtained by Malaysia, being it a member country of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) since 1998.

Malaysia currently exports 5,000 to 10,000 metric tonnes of tuna a year to Japan and the target is to export 30,000 metric tonne a year, he said.

Meanwhile, who would expect a pilot to quit his job and be an agro-entrepreneur, but Ramana K. Naidu, 27, did it and from soaring in the sky, he is now on the ground at the wheel of a harvester on his 60 hectare corn farm in Kuala Muda. Kedah.

Ramana left his job as a pilot in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2012 following a crisis in the kingdom and returned home to Kedah to venture into agriculture and became more determined to make a success of his agro-business after reaping RM14,000 in sale from his long beans farm.

He then went to India, China and Taiwan to learn about the technology in farming.

"I started the use of corn planter, cultivator machine and drone in farming in Malaysia, as well as came up with my own module to improve the quality of my crop.

"My module is now used in several states, including Kelantan, Pahang, Johor and Kedah," he said.

Ramana was among the successful agro-entrepreneurs who were mentioned and praised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in his speech when opening the event last Thursday.

"I am very happy and felt appreciated when the prime minister praised me. I want to do better so that I can be a source of inspiration for the young generation," he said.

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Ramana, who is a consultant at the Farmers Organisation Authority (FOA), is now working on a corn farming project, which he said had potential because of the high demand for corn with the government having to import the product, which is the main ingredient in the making of poultry feed, of four million tonne or worth RM3.1 billion a year.

Following his success, Raman urged the young generation to venture into the agriculture sector because of its potential to produce lucrative income. – Bernama

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