Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is the nation’s main producer of cocoa beans, accounting for 57 per cent of the country’s cocoa plantation area of 3,444 hectares.
Deputy Minister of Plantation and Commodities Datuk Hajah Siti Aminah Aching said cocoa farmers in the state, mainly in Kota Marudu and Keningau, vastly contribute to the production.
These include beans and premium chocolate including Bean-To-Bar, Single Origin and Artisanal chocolates.
It was once billed the golden crop in Tawau until disease and pests affected production, forcing planters to switch to oil palm. Sabah also has the biggest acreage under oil palm in the nation.
Siti Aminah, who is also Beaufort MP said she wanted the industry to be further developed to increase earnings for Sabah’s cocoa farmers.
“The potential of the cocoa plant in Sabah needs to be further developed. Encouragement must be given to growers through research, assistance and advisory services so they may continue to improve the quality of their plants,” she said, after meeting representatives of the Malaysian Cocoa Board at the Malaysian Cocoa Board (LKM) office, here.
Also present were LKM Director General Dr Ramle Haji Kasin and Deputy Director General of Research and Development Dr Ahmad Kamil Haji Mohd Jaafar.
Siti Aminah said this year, LKM would be implementing the New Crops project (TB23) with a target area of 200 hectares across the country.
Of that amount, 100 hectares are in Sabah while 80 in Sarawak and another 20 in the peninsula.
She added that the downstream industry in Sabah now consists of four chocolate and cocoa confection companies and 34 local chocolate entrepreneurs where as in 2022, the sales value of chocolate entrepreneurs in Sabah amounted to RM792,351.
“In line with the Malaysian Cocoa Board Strategic Plan (PSLKM), I hope that development programmes to increase cocoa production and sustainability will continue. Continuous efforts from LKM will help to further increase the sales revenue of entrepreneurs and number of cocoa entrepreneurs in Malaysia,” she said.
