THE Johor Agriculture Department has carried out 46 projects and handed out incentives worth about RM32mil this year to help local farmers.
Agriculture, agro-based industry and rural development committee chairman Datuk Zahari Sarip said RM10mil of the sum was from the state government, RM13.9mil from the Federal Government and RM7.9mil from the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana).
“Various government assistance and incentives have been given to industry players in the agriculture sector, regardless of whether they have small, medium or large-scale farms.
“In general, farmers who are involved in developing a farm, producing agricultural products, developing and marketing agriculture products, and working on getting certification for their farms will be given some form of assistance.
“In 2022 alone, the state government carried out 46 projects and incentives that have benefitted some 10,959 agriculture entrepreneurs,” he told the state assembly sitting in Kota Iskandar.
He was responding to a question from Ee Chin Lin (PH-Tangkak) on the available assistance for farmers and whether they were successful.
Zahari noted that there were three categories of incentives available under the state agriculture department, namely, the food development incentive, agriculture-based industry incentives and the human development incentives.
“The Farmers Organisation Authority also plays an important role in the effort to empower farmers through their programmes.
“Among the programmes are the young agropreneur scheme for farmers between 18 and 40 years old, the Rise Up programme where farmers can get a matching grant of between RM50,000 and RM100,000, the esatellite programme for those wanting to upgrade their existing project to a large-scale one using technology, and the agriprentice programme where farmers are paired together in a mentor-mentee approach.
“Some 119 people have benefitted from these four programmes this year with an allocation of about RM6.18mil,” he said.
Zahari said other agencies that had also been playing active roles in the development of local farmers were the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama), Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (MPIB) as well as the Fisheries and the Veterinary departments.
“For the record, a total of RM60mil has been channelled for the development of Johor’s agriculture sector this year from eight state and federal agencies.
“This made way for the implementation of 149 programmes benefitting 18,000 individuals.
“Apart from improving the welfare of farmers and other agriculture industry players, these schemes and incentives are also meant to increase productivity in the sector.
“This is in line with Johor’s aspiration to be the country’s food basket,” he added.
Source: The Star