The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism continued its efforts to attract youth to venture into the agriculture and fisheries sectors through several programmes, including The Youth Agripreneur Project, a new initiative in collaboration with the ministry, local financial institutions and Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB). It aimed at providing opportunities for young farmers to start and ensure the sustainability of their enterprises through financial support and is expected to be launched in the middle of the year.
Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Abdul Manaf bin Haji Metussin said this at the 21st Legislative Council (LegCo) yesterday.
The minister also outlined other programmes such as the exposure programme for youth to venture into agricultural technology where nine series of programmes have been implemented involving 166 youth.
The pilot project programme, in the form of a small scale trial for 44 youth entrepreneurs, have been offered sites in agricultural enterprises and five youth entrepreneurs are involved in fisheries business.
The addition sites programme, he said, “is offering additional sites to farmers who have fully developed the site that have been offered. So far, 16 youth from the pilot project have been offered additional sites in the agricultural industry and one in the fishing industry.”
The youth paddy farming programme, organised jointly by the Youth Development Centre at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports encourages youth involvement in paddy farming. It currently has five youth active in paddy farming in the Wasan Agricultural Development Area with a site of 10 hectares and one actively farming in the Bebuloh Agricultural Development Area with a site of five hectares.
The minister said; “The involvement of villagers is also important in increasing agricultural sector production. However, the achievement of Rural Agriculture Development Areas is not encouraging, with some of the land allocated to villagers not being utilised. The ministry is reassessing the initiative to ensure that it achieves its targeted goals.”
To support agri-food enterprises, he said; “The ministry, together with BEDB, has implemented the Capacity Enhancement Programme for micro, small and medium enterprises in the food sector. The programme aimed at facilitating growth of agri-food companies, especially in the transition from home-based operations to more suitable, organised, and food-standard processing premises. Of the 14 companies that joined the programme, four home-based companies were offered to move to dedicated premises.”
The minister also expressed appreciation for the proposal shared by LegCo member Yang Berhormat Chong Chin Yee on supporting local graduates to venture into food science and nutrition, as well as research and development in food processing and packaging technology innovation, which can be beneficial in developing the agri-food industry sector in this country.
He said; “The ministry will always collaborate with the Ministry of Education and interested agencies in efforts to increase employment opportunities, not only in the agri-food sector, but also in other industries related to agriculture and fisheries.
“Towards further increasing the production of agricultural and fisheries commodities to the targeted level, the ministry encourages the use of the latest, easy and affordable technologies not only to meet local needs but also to explore export markets.
“Among the modern technologies and techniques used in crop activities include vegetable cultivation using the aquaponics system; the use of solar energy; drip irrigation and vertical farming systems in protected houses while the use of drone technology for pesticide spraying and monitoring using data analytics in rice fields; a tabletop system suitable for use in areas prone to flooding; recirculating aquaculture system for fish and shrimp farming and the Internet of Things system for water quality monitoring.”
The minister also highlighted that the ministry is also striving to attract the involvement of foreign direct investment and joint ventures in the implementation of agricultural and fisheries activities. Currently, there are 17 foreign investment companies and joint venture companies actively involved in the fisheries and agriculture sectors. – James Kon
