KOTA KINABALU: Farmers in Sabah are advised to put off plans to open up new agricultural lands during the Super El Nino phenomenon which is expected to hit from September to January next year.
During an event here, state Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industries minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar said farmers should instead focus on improving water storage systems and increasing water sources into their respective farms and prevent open burning.
He said it was vital that measures are taken to face the incoming phenomenon with rising global temperatures and extreme weather worldwide, so that their plantations and yields are sustained.
On the ministry’s part, he said a special committee has been set up to face this condition.
“We have also received a briefing from the Malaysia Meteorological Department last week on this incoming weather condition which will affect the agriculture sector,” said Jamawi, adding that sectors like the fisheries and livestocks might also be affected.
He urged those in these industries to get advice and information from the respective officials in their districts on matters that concern their livelihoods, on ways to reduce or minimise the effects of El Nino, and so on and so forth.
He advised the public to be vigilant on the latest MetMalaysia news updates during these few months as well.
On other matters, Jamawi said some 10,000 ha of unattended lands that are suitable for padi planting in Sabah will be developed through a mini estate approach.
He said Sabah has about 25,000 ha of lands suitable for padi planting but only 15,000 are being developed right now while the rest are left as it is when their owners grow older and families are no longer interested in farming.
He said the state is now working with private companies to develop mini padi farms, measuring between 300 to 500 acres.
Jamawi said the mini estate approach is expected to allow better management of padi, just like other commodity estates.
“There are so far six mini farms that have been created,” he said, adding that the state aims to increase padi yields in Sabah from six to seven tonnes per ha through the use of machines, suitable fertilisers and agricultural technology.
The objective is to help farmers increase their harvest and income while improving Sabah’s padi self-sufficiency rate by at least 30% so that there can be a reduction in dependency on import supplies.
“We are only producing about 19% of the supplies here locally whereas the rest are imports from Thailand, Vietnam and India,” said Jamawi, explaining that a bigger food security issue would arise if geopolitical conflicts or war erupts in these areas.
