BANGI: Leveraging on modern technologies is expected to attract more young people to enter the commodity and plantation sector hence reducing the country’s dependence on foreign labour, said Minister of Primary Industries Teresa Kok (pix).
She said the plantation industry will soon tap into the potential of robotics, drones and smartphones.
“With all these modern technologies, we are going to attract more people, especially the youth and we hope to have more young people to join the industry and be proud of it,“ she told reporters after an award ceremony organised by the Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities.
Kok urged the youth to enrol in skills and training courses provided by the Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities (Impac).
Established in 2011, Impac merges and coordinates all courses and training carried out by the different agencies under one organisation.
Agencies involved are the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB), Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB), Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB), Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) and National Kenaf and Tobacco Board (NKTB).
“When the plantation industry uses sophisticated mechanisms, they will find their work easier to do compared to manual methods. It is no longer a 3D (dirty, difficult and dangerous) job,” she added.
In her speech, Kok said the commodity sector is one of the main contributors to the nation’s economy.
As of October this year, export revenue from agri-commodity products stood at RM103.5 billion or 12.6% of the country’s total export revenue.
“I have very high confidence that the export revenue from the agri-commodity sector will rise to RM134.5 billion at the end of 2019,” she said.
Between 2011 and 2019, Impac trained 70,672 participants at training centres under the six government agencies, and it expects to train 80,000 participants by 2020.
Many of Impac’s graduates have been absorbed into large companies such as Sime Darby Plantation and Felda Plantation. — Bernama
