Food Industry , Commodity and Regional Development ( M-FICORD ) Minister Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom , a key figure in the development of the food industry , emphasised that today ’ s agriculture should not only be seen as a matter of subsistence , but as a business and more .

He said Sarawak saw countries that were advanced in the field of agriculture as a benchmark for this region , focusing more on the same field , not just the manufacturing , oil and gas sectors .

“ Agriculture is the main pillar that has yielded many results over the years , but must be strengthened by adopting new technology and changing the mindset of the farming community ,” he said in his welcome speech at the opening of Sarawak Agrofest 2024 from Jul 12-22 at Lasar Kenyalang , Bintulu Old Airport Site .

He said in Sarawak , farmers

Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom

were seen as people with low incomes , but in developed countries , farmers were more advanced in agriculture , such as in New Zealand , Finland , Australia and Europe .

“ Now they don ’ t look at the size of the land but the production , productivity and quality so that the results are adequate with the efforts made , which means we also need to change the way we think ,” he said , adding that the old way will keep farmers in the old notch .

Dr Rundi , who is also the chairman of Sarawak Agrofest 2024 , said that to expose farmers to new ways of thinking , not only profit and loss should be taken into account , but food security should also be taken into account .

“ Among them , we should empower rice cultivation to get a good return , and scientists have done a lot of research on it in China , Japan , and Korea .

“ The people we need to change

are the farming communities who live in the countryside and belong to B40 , attracting more knowledgeable , trained , and capable youth to become farmers by considering farming as a career ,” he said .

Even so , he said , it was essential to provide perfect infrastructure , the Internet of Things ( IoT ) and digital agriculture so that the effort is seen as a financial investment that can help .

“ Many programmes we held , we let it go with the hope that the public would be able to follow it , but in the end , it did not turn out like what is happening today .

“ What do we need to do in the supply chain , seeds , research , production , downstream and upstream industries and marketing , because otherwise what is happening now will stop in the middle of the road ,” he explained while hoping Sarawak could improve food security in the sector rice cultivation so as not to depend too much on imports .

He stressed that farmers should not rely on a single crop , but should diversify their produce . What is crucial , he emphasised is understanding the market and the need to collaborate with the industry ’ s major players .