Perak aims to remain tops in farming

IPOH: Perak plans to set aside land as permanent farming sites to ensure the state remains the biggest agricultural producer in the country. 

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali said the effort would include converting former mining land for agricultural use. 

The move, he said, was to ensure areas planted with crops, especially those strategically located, would remain as plantation land. 

“We are working towards protecting agricultural land in the state to ensure Perak continues to be the biggest agricultural producer in the country,” he said after visiting a 140ha sweet potato and red tilapia fish breeding project in Gopeng, near here, yesterday. 

The farm, earmarked for housing and commercial development, is being developed by Panshah Multitrade (M) Sdn Bhd on a five-year lease. 

Tajol Rosli said the land was leased to the company for agriculture to ensure maximum land utilisation in the area. 

“It is a waste to just leave the land idle since development in the area will take some time to take off,” he said. 

Panshah Multitrade managing director S’hah Mokhtar said the company decided to plant sweet potatoes as not many farmers were willing to venture into planting the crop on a large scale.