Saturday July 26, 2008
Sabah can produce enough rice if given land
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Land Development Board has assured the state that it can produce enough rice for the state to be self-sufficient by 2020, but it needs more land for the cultivation.
“Give us the land and SLDB will put it to good use by planting food crops, especially padi,” said outgoing SLDB chairman Tan Sri Joseph Kurup who handed over the post to Sipitang MP Datuk Sapawi Ahmad.
“We have the resources and capabilities but lack the most essential asset – arable land that can be converted for food production. Without the land, there is nothing much we can do to assist the government attain self-sufficiency and cut down on food imports,” said Kurup, the deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister.
Earlier, SLDB's general manager Jhuvarri Majid, who also touched on the agency’s plans to go into production of both food crops as well as essential commodities, briefed Kurup and Sapawi on the agency's current operations. SLDB's core business is oil palm and smallholder schemes.
SLDB is suggesting that all suitable land for padi cultivation be parked in its land bank for cultivation of padi and other food crops if necessary.
SLDB has set up a 100% owned subsidiary, Padiberas Sabah Sdn Bhd to cultivate padi on some 26,500ha of land, following a directive by the State government.
Sabah imports almost 70% of its rice requirements.
The agency has been offered 6,000ha of land in the interior Sook plains for padi cultivation and a feasibility study is now being carried out.
“The government must help us source the remaining 20,000ha as soon as possible, said Sapawi, adding that he would brief Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman on the situation as the land issue was an urgent matter.
“With 26,500ha of land and a yield out of six tons per hectare, we can produce 143,100 metric tonnes of rice a year. This figure will increase when we do double cropping,” said Sapawi.
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