| Azaraimy HH |
BUSINESS opportunities in the agricultural sector are aplenty for local youth to explore, said Entomologist and Head of International and Public Relations Unit at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) Hirman bin Haji Abu, during the final day of the Youth Entrepreneurship Plenary 2018 forum yesterday.
The forum was organised by the Department of Youth and Sports at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Berakas.
At the forum, Hirman said agricultural industry is one of the main sectors that can help diversify the economic activities in the country.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin and Deputy Minister of Energy, Manpower and Industry Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Matsatejo bin Sokiaw were present during the event.
Hirman said in the agricultural industry, there are two types of opportunities that are readily available for the youth – Contract Farming and Pilot Project programmes.
Through the programmes, the government would provide farm sites, advisory services, input materials such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, and other facilities.
For the Contract Farming programme under the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood and Department of Fisheries under the MPRT, agricultural land and aquaculture site would be provided for the entrepreneurs.
Twenty hectares of farmland have already been allocated for this programme, while 70 hectares are available for fish cage farming activities.
The Pilot Project Programme is based on trial practice on a small plot of land. In this project, the participant must come up with a feasible proposal to be eligible.
In this programme, participants will be given a certain size of farmland, for instance, a two-hectare farm, to be developed for a period of two years. Animal farming or certain fruit farming may take a longer time and would need a larger land. The trial practice enables participants to prove themselves worthy to make them eligible to continue their two-year lease, and expand their farm, for example, to five hectares.
Hirman also mentioned there are opportunities available for the youth to be service providers in the agricultural sector such as in seedling, transportation and marketing services.
There is also an opportunity in technology-based farming methods – vertical farming, fertigation and greenhouses.
Head of Business and Investment Development Division, Department of Fisheries at the MPRT Noraini binti Haji Anggas spoke about similar opportunities in the fisheries sector especially in aquaculture.
She said currently, fisheries activities account for only 0.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The total fisheries output stood at about BND110.8 million in 2015. The government has set a target for the fisheries sector to contribute BND681 million to the GDP by 2020.
Currently, capture fisheries account for 77 per cent of the total output, and aquaculture only accounts for nine per cent. By 2020, the target is for the aquaculture sector to contribute 60 per cent of the total output. “This big leap is important because of our limited sea area, and to sustain the fishing livestock in our waters, and to develop the fishing industry in the country we need to rely on aquaculture. Therefore, there is a need to encourage local and foreign businesses to venture into the aquaculture industry. There is also the challenge to provide assistance to the local farmers to be part of this growth strategy.”