Gov’t will provide assistance to farmers in cultivation of cocoa in Sabah

The government has provided 655 hectares of land in the state for the New Cocoa Plantation Program in 2013, said the Chairman of the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB), Datuk Siringan Gubat.

He said the breakdown of the targeted area is 205 hectares in Ranau, 200 hectares in Tenom, 150 hectares in the North West Coast and 100 hectares in Tawau.

“This is one of the Government’s initiative to ensure the success of cocoa which is also one of the core for the advancement of agriculture and manufacturing sectors, particularly the resource-based industries in the country,” said Siringan in his speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Advanced Course and the Crop Cocoa Operators Association Annual General Meeting Sulawesi cocoa (PENAKOS), here, yesterday.

He said that before this, the government has allocated an amount of RM17.8 million to develop a new area of 1.567 hectare of cocoa plantation in Malaysia.

So far, for Sabah, a total area of 750 hectares has been allocated, which covers 300 hectares in Ranau, 200 hectares in Tenom, 150 hectares in the PBU and 100 hectares in Tawau, he said.

He said that under this new crop programme, participants will receive incentives worth RM8,000 per hectare for a period of one year.

This incentive is in the form of 1000 cocoa seedlings (per hectare), fertilizers, agricultural inputs such as disease & pest control, cocoa planting courses and plantation maintenance incentives, he said.

“I hope that with such attractive incentives, cocoa farmers will continue to take advantage of all the technology provided to increase their cocoa productivity and their income,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, to ensure that the needs of cocoa farmers will continue to be met, the Government will continue to assist existing farmers through Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme under the 2nd Rolling Plan in 2012, he said.

“This programme emphasizes on increasing productivity among cocoa farmers through the development and improvement of cocoa technology practices,” he said, adding that among the activities carried out under this program include agricultural assistance to farmers such as fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural equipment and advanced technology courses.

In addition, another programme conducted by the Malaysian Cocoa Board in an effort to promote cocoa plantation is the Cocoa for the People (KUR) programme, he said.

He said the programme, which started in 2009, provides an opportunity for the people to plant cocoa on any suitable piece of land available.

“This program does not require land permits and monitoring to ensure that the trees planted will result in abundant yields and can be easily manageable,” he said, adding that in 2012, MCB has distributed cocoa seedlings to 408 people in Sabah through this program.

Also he said, through the Domestic Marketing Support Services Program, MCB will help with the sale of raw cocoa beans or cocoa or where MCB buy cocoa beans from farmers based on quality and reasonable prices.

Meanwhile, he said, according to the International Cocoa Organisation forecasts (ICCO), the price of cocoa beans, is also expected to increase to more than USD4000 or more than RM 12,000 per tonne in the near future.

This price increase is due to the decrease in the number of major cocoa producers in the world especially from the African continent, he said.

At the same time, he said, there is a high demand for cocoa in conjunction with the Christmas and New Year festivities.

Reduction of world cocoa stocks and increasing demand by the world’s cocoa grinders are expected to continue until the year 2020, he said.

However, Siringan remind farmers not to be too affected with commodity prices in cocoa cultivation but instead to continue to improve cocoa production in the country.

Source: New Sabah Times