Sarawak to expand production from stingless bees to meet demand

Uggah (centre) witnessing the exchange of documents between Dr Chai (left) and Tan.

KUCHING: There is a huge buzz for kelulut honey in the global market and the Sarawak government is strengthening capacity to meet demand.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the state government has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Borneo Stingless Bee Sdn Bhd to promote and enhance cooperation to develop the kelulut (stingless bee) industry.

Areas of cooperation include production of quality kelulut honey through research and development, transfer of knowledge as well as promotion and marketing for both domestic and export markets.

“There is a huge export potential for kelulut honey, whether it is for food or health products. We are encouraging our farmers to venture into the industry as a means to diversify their income.

“Stingless bee farming is not difficult and each nest box (hive) can produce about 0.5kg of honey per month, which is sold at around RM80 per kg,” he told reporters after the MoU signing at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here.

Uggah, who is also state Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister, witnessed the signing between state Agriculture acting director Dr Alvin Chai Lian Kuet and Borneo Stingless Bee director Tan Chun Chuang.

“There are over 200 stingless bee farmers across the state and we are looking to increase the number of those participating.”

Uggah added that Sarawak aims to be a net exporter of food by 2030 and one of the initiatives to achieve this goal is through close collaboration with the private sector.

Borneo Stingless Bee’s main business activities include kelulut farming as well as collecting, processing and marketing the honey under the brand name “Madulut”.

The company has a processing facility in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, with a monthly production capacity of 15 tonnes of kelulut honey.

Last year, the company collected 13 tonnes of kelulut honey from Sarawak farmers. Future plans include processing bee pollen and propolis.

“We shall transform the agriculture sector by modernising and commercialising the industry along the whole supply and value chain as well as adopting new business models through the application of the latest production technology, leveraging on ICT and digital technology,” Uggah said.

Last month, the state government signed an MoU with Rimbunan Hijau Sdn Bhd to expand the kelulut honey industry.