RM50m for self-sufficiency agriculture research

SANDAKAN: An injection of at least RM50 million to fund agricultural research in Sabah will help the agriculture department in meeting its target of 100 per cent self-sufficiency for food production in the region.

State Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the fund would be used to upgrade facilities, particularly at the department’s three research facilities in Sandakan, Tawau and Tuaran.

Currently, the department only receives about RM2 million per year for development and research purposes.

“All of these research facilities have successfully produced a variety of food products that could aid us in our efforts to secure food for the people. As a bonus, these products are highly profitable because of their high quality,” he said.

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He said his dream was to empower the agriculture department and turn the research centre in Ulu Dusun the main research centre on agricultural tissue culture technology in Sabah. “Our research centres are critical to our operations because without the expertise and knowledge of our researchers, we would have to rely on researches done by the private sector or even overseas on our own local plants.

“We don’t want that to happen because it would mean losing commercial opportunities, not to mention the possibility of bio piracy of our local bio-diversity,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey said the Sabah Government recently formed a cabinet-level committee to address food security issues.

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“The committee is an important step as we intensify our efforts to increase our SSL levels across all food groups. We must that ensure Sabah has sufficient food supply in the future.

“Under the committee, we also set up a task force which is chaired by me where we would put into action all the right strategies to achieve these goals,” he said.

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