KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show 2020 (Maha) will be scaled down this year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, says Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee.
"On average, Maha used to attract about three million visitors to the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park (MAEPS) in Serdang," said the Agriculture and Food Industries Minister.
"But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ministry is using a hybrid approach for the event comprising physical and online visitors," he said when answering a question raised by Datuk Jalaluddin Alias (BN-Jelebu) in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Aug 27).
He said the 11-day event had been shortened to only four days this coming Nov 26-29.
"Unlike previous events which were opened to the public, Maha this year will be by invitation and restricted to 10,000 visitors a day," he added.
To offset the shortfall in visitors, Kiandee said that Maha would also be given an online presence and was expected to attract 100,000 visitors.
He said this year's event would be focused more towards generating economic opportunities for participants.
"The theme for this year's event is 'Agriculture Driver of Malaysian Economy'.
"This is because the agriculture sector recorded positive growth in the first quarter of this year despite other sectors suffering setbacks due to the movement control order (MCO).
"This shows that the agriculture sector remains resilient in whatever situation or crisis," he said.
Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (PH-Kulim Bandar Baru) suggested that the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) be turned into a permanent site for Maha and developed as an attraction.
Kiandee said that the ministry would consider this although its focus was towards developing the agriculture sector as a whole.
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