Council seeks land for growing chrysanthemums
Published on: Thursday, December 13, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: The Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry should consider to initiate a "One District One Plant" programme that could contribute to the State's economic growth as well as the national level.National Chairman of BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) Datuk Roselan J Mohamed who proposed this said a plantation of Chrysanthemum in Kundasang, Ranau which he suggested over the past few years has been controlling the world exports of Chrysanthemum to Japan at a whopping 59 per cent. "We are very fortunate that we have direct flight connections to Japan, twice a week, which puts us as a qualifier to plant this National flower of Japan.
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"We are hoping that the Chief Minister can allocate BEBC with 20 acres to spearhead this programme. "This planting is not about competition but merely to establish Malaysia's position to secure a higher percentage in our exports to Japan and elsewhere," he said in a statement.Roselan was accompanied by newly appointed BEBC Sabah team which includes Junzuenn Basalan Executive Secretary and Chairman for Keningau, NK Foo Head of SME and Chairman for KK District, James Ibrahim Chairman for Kudat, Michael Chin Chairman for Penampang District, Wong Thart Sin Chairman for Tawau and Datuk Goffery Yee Loong Fook Head of Agro-industry Cluster for Tawau District to pay a visit to Agriculture and Food Minister Datuk Wong Hong Jun @ Junz Wong here to discuss the future of Sabah's agriculture and fisheries industry.A total of 16 agendas were tabled during the meeting, which include the commercial implementation of paulownia, cavendish banana, hybrid napier and hybrid paddy.
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Roselan also added that somewhere in Lombok, Indonesia, a farmer is exporting purple sweet potatoes to Japan every week in 2 x 20 footer reefer containers. "The farmer is still living his simple ordinary life despite having a fat saving account accumulated over the years out of his hard toiling in the field.
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"Hence, BEBC hopes our local Sabahan farmers can take the challenge. We also have yet to identify the village of the farmer in Lombok. "We will have to work with Rural Development Corporation (KPD) to realise this venture," he said.Head of Agro-industry Cluster for BEBC Sabah Tawau Datuk Goffery Yee suggested during the meeting the cultivation of "Tadulan" coconut species to avoid mono crop system in Tawau, the cultivations of pineapple as commercial fruit and the commercial rearing of green crabs in Tawau. "Since the Tadulan coconuts and the MD2 pineapples are already within the purview of the Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, members of BEBC Tawau should pursue the rearing of green crabs after a suitable location has been identified."BEBC members has always made our voices heard in the Agri-Cluster meetings of BIMP-EAGA and will still use our lessons learnt to lend support to our energetic Minister (Junz) to eventually create a sustainable, competitive and climate-resilient agro industry and fisheries in Sabah. "Our end result shall be food security programme, export development and promoting sustainable livelihood for our farmers and fisher folks of Sabah," Roselan said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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