Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government has made significant progress in strengthening food security under the agricultural component of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) 1.0 development plan.
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan told the State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday that one of the major achievements was the establishment of the Sabah Padi and Rice Board, approved under Section 3 of the Sabah Agricultural Produce Board Enactment 1981.
He said a paddy crop takaful scheme was also introduced to provide insurance protection for registered farmers against natural disasters, crop damage and diseases.
As part of paddy expansion efforts, Sabah developed an additional 100 hectares in Kampung Ongkilan, Kota Marudu through the Kinabalu Palm Oil Group, on top of the existing 35,160 hectares of padi land.
“To further increase the paddy area, the government has introduced a new policy allowing grazing reserves to be converted for agricultural use,” Nizam said in response to a question by Nabawan Assemblyman Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohamed Yassin.
Sabah also developed a pineapple plantation in Lingkungan, Beaufort for MD2 pineapple export, a joint venture between Rural Development Corporation (KPD) and the private sector, with the first 18-tonne shipment already exported to Singapore.
In Kota Marudu, a separate MD2 pineapple cultivation project spanning 80.9 hectares began in Kampung Gana under a state-federal agency partnership.
To support market access, six Agricultural Produce Collection Centres (APCC) have been completed in Kundasang, Kota Marudu, Lingkungan, Beaufort, Telupid, Keningau and Lahad Datu.
The area of rubber plantations in Sabah has increased to 241,245 hectares, with the addition of five centrifuge machines at the Beaufort Latex Concentrate Factory boosting annual output from 1,000 to 4,000 metric tonnes.
Livestock numbers grew from 6.86 million in 2021 to 9.33 million in 2023, covering cattle, buffaloes, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens and ducks – a total rise of 2.47 million animals.
Sabah’s self-sufficiency level (SSL) for buffalo and beef rose from 2.94 per cent in 2021 to 5.69 per cent in 2024, while SSL for chicken meat rose from 89.31 per cent to 94.19 per cent, and SSL for eggs, goat meat and fresh milk remained above 100per cent from 2021 to 2024.
The State also developed the Kinabalu Livestock Integrated Centre (SKLIC) in Balung, Tawau, which now hosts 15,453 livestock, of which 10,692 are integrated with palm plantations covering 27,444 hectares.
To enhance aquaculture, Ko-Nelayan constructed 235 tanks to boost hybrid grouper fry capacity, resulting in the successful production of 62,982 fry and benefiting 20 aquaculture farmers.
Freshwater fish production increased from 1,692 metric tonnes in 2021 to 2,006 metric tonnes in 2023, while 659,277 metric tonnes of marine fish were landed in Sabah between 2021 and 2023.
