Answer to Written Question PT057
QUESTION
Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Suyoi bin Haji Osman
YANG BERHORMAT PEHIN ORANG KAYA INDERA PAHLAWAN DATO SERI SETIA AWANG HAJI SUYOI BIN HAJI OSMAN asks Menteri Sumber-Sumber Utama dan Pelancongan to state the latest developments regarding agriculture in this country following the matters that were raised at the first MMN session this year, such as opening new areas for rice cultivation, improving drainage systems, providing agricultural infrastructure, capacity development programmes for farmers, financial financing, and so on.
ANSWER
Yang Berhormat Menteri Sumber-Sumber Utama dan Pelancongan
For the opening of new areas for rice cultivation, Alhamdulillah, the development of Phase 1 and Phase 2A of the Kandol Agricultural Development Area was fully completed in 2023 with a total plantable area of 174 hectares. At the same time as the site development was carried out, the area was also cultivated in stages by Syarikat PaddyCo Sdn. Bhd. and later by Syarikat Wasan Milling Company Sdn. Bhd., namely Government-Linked Companies.
At present, rice cultivation in the Kandol Agricultural Development Area has been carried out for 10 planting seasons and cumulatively, the total rice production produced from the first to the tenth season is 365.5 metric tonnes.
In connection with efforts to further increase rice production productivity in the existing area, Kementerian Sumber-Sumber Utama dan Pelancongan has focused on the use of technology and high-yield rice varieties. In addition, the Ministry is also working to improve soil fertility through the Regenerative Agriculture approach, namely through the use of organic fertiliser.
At present, the Ministry, in cooperation with Syarikat Wasan Milling Company Sdn. Bhd., is carrying out a study on the effectiveness of using locally produced organic fertiliser in improving soil fertility and increasing rice productivity. This study has entered its second season and the preliminary findings show very positive results. InsyaAllah this study will be continued for at least three seasons to obtain more reliable findings.
In terms of the provision of basic infrastructure in the Kawasan Kemajuan Pertanian (KKP), this has been expanded from 28% in 2023 to 40% in 2024, covering main roads, farm roads, domestic water supply, electricity supply, as well as irrigation and drainage systems.
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % of KKP with complete basic infrastructure | 26 | 28 | 40 |
In the context of increasing farmers' capacity, as of 2024, a total of 9 series of the Potential Youth Exposure Programme to Venture into High-Technology Agriculture have been implemented, involving 164 youths. This year, the 10th Youth Programme took place from 23 June to 5 July, with youth placements at company farms: Hua Ho Agricultural Farm, Harvest Moon Trading, Akmal Asmaan Agriculture Farm, Gropoint Sdn Bhd, Food United, and Natural Healing Enterprise. The following is the number of youths who participated in the programme from 2018 to 2024:
| Year | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Total Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Youths | 30 | 20 | 13 | 35 | 18 | 23 | 25 | 164 |
Number of Youths Participating in the Potential Youth Exposure Programme to Venture into High-Technology Agriculture
Number of Youths: 40 30 20 10 0 Year: 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
In addition to the Potential Youth Exposure Programme, the Ministry also welcomes and supports the initiative of the Persatuan Peladang Pertanian Brunei in proposing the Agro Training and Entrepreneurship Programme aimed at producing new entrepreneurs, especially among local youth who have been trained in farming and entrepreneurship and are given post training support until they are able to become independent.
Projek Belia Berpadi is also one of the collaborative programmes between the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood and Kementerian Kebudayaan, Belia dan Sukan through the Youth Development Centre since 2015 with the objective of encouraging more youths to venture into national rice production and providing employment opportunities, while also improving family income. Youths participating in this programme also undergo theoretical and practical training through the Rice Farmers Field School and learn the rice checking system that can influence rice yield and quality, namely quality seeds, paddy field supervision, simultaneous planting, crop establishment, crop nutrient management, water management, pest management and harvest management.
The first initiative under Projek Belia Berpadi began in the KKP Bebuloh Rice Cultivation Area involving an area of 15 hectares, where 1 hectare was allocated to each of 15 youths in 2015. Of that number, 5 youths who showed good performance were given the opportunity to cultivate nearly 2 hectares each in the KKP Wasan Rice Cultivation Area.
Another initiative named Projek AgroBIZ, contributed by Shell LiveWIRE Brunei, also began in 2019 between Shell LiveWIRE Brunei and IBTE Wasan Agrotechnology Campus with the objective of exposing youths to rice cultivation using modern equipment and sustainable agricultural methods, namely free of chemical poisons, the use of organic fertiliser and the use of efficient irrigation systems. This learning programme also includes the use of drones for agricultural input application, cash crop cultivation, post-harvest management including rice milling and rice processing. An area of 10 hectares at the IBTE Wasan Agrotechnology Campus was opened and equipped with basic infrastructure such as irrigation and drainage systems. This project was implemented for only three years and a total of 52 participants from 3 cohorts took part.
In 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood offered KKBS another 20-hectare area in the KKP Batong Rice Cultivation Area as an additional area for youth rice cultivation. A number of youths from the AgroBIZ project were also absorbed under Projek Belia Berpadi and offered areas in KKP Batong.
In this regard, the Ministry will also continue its efforts to attract youths to venture into the agriculture and fisheries sectors and activities, by facilitating the process of gaining access to finance, through discussions with financial institutions to provide "start-up capital" as loans for the preparation of cultivation sites such as land clearing and opening, and the development of high-technology system greenhouses, and the youths will begin operations to generate income.
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