Farming Output Hampered from land shortage and workers

Chua: Shortage of land and workers hampering agro output
Monday September 27, 2010

YONG PENG: Farmers continue to be troubled with issues related to land relocation and lack of foreign workers, said Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Chua Tee Yong.

He added that the authorities need to come up with a long-term solution to these problems as it was important that the country be self-sufficient in food.

"Many farmers felt sidelined and unappreciated. They are forced to relocate because the plots of land given to them are being converted to residential or industrial land.

"The farmers are then left without land to farm in or are allocated smaller plots, where they cannot sustain their earlier production level," he said after attending a dialogue session with local farmers here recently.

He said the Perak government has started to address this problem by earmarking nearly 14,000 ha of land for aqua-culture and fishery.

"We need the state authorities to cooperate with the ministry so that we can properly address this growing problem," he said, adding that similar efforts were also made in Lahad Datu, where 33,000ha of land were earmarked for fish farming.

On the problem of foreign farm workers, Chua said farmers need labour to maintain a healthy production level.

"This is a major problem because most locals are not willing to work in this field, which is depicted as dirty, messy and demanding.

"It has become so bad that some farmers in Cameron Highlands have stopped harvesting chillies because they just don't have enough workers," he added.

Chua explained that the authorities needed to come up with a proper system to ensure that foreign workers who leave once their contracts expire are replaced as soon as possible.

"Farmers have to seek various approvals to hire foreign workers from the human resource and the home ministries before their applications are allowed," he said.

He added that some farmers had complained that the approval process could take up to eight months to complete.

Chua said an efficient agricultural production in the industry was not only good for farmers, but it could also help reduce costs and the prices of vegetables in the market. -- The Star News