Johor Agriculture Dept to continue incentive, assistance programmes

JOHOR BARU: The Johor Agriculture Department would continue its incentive and assistance programmes in a bid to ensure sustainable food production to meet growing demand in the state.
Johor Agriculture, Agro-based Industry, Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development Committee chairman, Ismail Mohamed cited the Johor Primary Food Production Industry Development Project; Rice Field, Industrial Crops, Floriculture and Potential Commodities Development Project; and Agricultural Production Incentive Programme as among the initiatives.
"Other programmes include the Sustainable Agricultural Development Programme, People's Agricultural Programme, Agro-Based Industry Development Programme, Disaster Relief Programme, Farmers Entrepreneurship Programme and Human Resource Development that involve training for farmers, entrepreneurs and youths," he told Bernama.
Ismail said the incentives and assistance granted to agricultural projects in the form of infrastructure, equipment, agricultural inputs, technical services and technology transfer would dictate agricultural development sustainability.
He said the Johor Agriculture Department also played a key role in the production of quality agricultural products and meeting established standards such as Good Agricultural Practice Scheme (MyGAP) and Malaysian Organic Certification Scheme (MyOrganic).

Ismail said the state could also empower its agricultural sector by introducing new concepts for crops and downstream industries such as the Permanent Food Production Parks and cluster development.
Meanwhile, he said the Johor government allocated RM40,000 last year in disaster relief aid to 33 farmers whose livelihood was affected by adverse weather and elephant attacks.
Each farmer received between RM500 and RM1,000, depending on the severity of the damage to their crops, he said.
He also said the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry gave an allocation of RM67,000 through the National Disaster Fund to alleviate the effects of the drought last year.
He said the 134 farmers who received assistance were from Mersing, Pontian, Kluang, Muar, Segamat and Kota Tinggi. — Bernama