Integrated Farming - the Agropolitan way

Thursday 6 August 2009
I read with deep interest the agropolitan project to eradicate hard core poverty announced by the PM when he launched it in Runchang in his home constituency in Pekan, Pahang. The Agropolitan project in Pekan is one of the milestones under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) masterplan to balance development growth between rural and urban areas, and accelerate rural economic growth through agricultural activities and farm-based industry. The participants will be involved in oil palm plantation and sheep rearing as primary activities while supplementing their household income via secondary activities in downstream palm oil initiatives and sheep farming.
On a smaller scale, this idea was introduced by MPOB to oil palm smallholders many years ago under the Integrated Farming Concept, whereby smallholders were given training to rear sheep and cattle in their oil palm plantations to supplement their incomes.
The agropolitan project integrates various other diverse activities which hitherto are done independently on a small scale, such as mushroom planting, tailoring, tourism and homestay programmes, bird nests cultivation, as well as production of craftwork, aquaculture and aquaponics practices. To my mind, this is a grand approach to uplifting the economic life in the kampongs and should be taken seriuosly by all the existing government agencies involved in rural development work, including the new villages. Further, the whole programme can also be done on a strategic parnership basis with the big players in the oil/palm oil industry, like Sime Darby, FELDA, IOI, KL Kepong, etc.