KOTA KINABALU – In the excitement of reaping the potential profits from the durian industry, Sabah’s Sugut rep Datuk James Ratib drew giggles when he revealed in the state assembly today that he has started his own durian farm on a 600-acre land.
The assistant state minister for agriculture and fisheries blurted this out after being overwhelmed by questions from the floor on the development of the durian industry in Sabah, especially for the “Musang King” variant.
“Just to inform everyone, I am also in the middle of setting up a small-sized durian planting. Not much, just around 600 acres,” he said during question time.
Ratib noted that farmers potentially generate up to RM504,000 in annual income from durian selling after ten years of planting but said that the industry is still at its infant stage in the state.
He said Sabah is still unable to export durians because the volume of production is low.
The state ministry has not received any application from local durian farmers for the purpose of exporting, he added.
Further to this, Ratib also explained the applications for export licences are subject to audit and approval by the federal government.
One of the requirements to obtain the licence is for there to be a processing factory, but the state has none thus far.
He was responding to the questions posed by George Hiew (Karamunting-Warisan) and Calvin Chong (Elopura-Warisan).
The two opposition reps had questioned whether local sellers are not earning much from selling durians at present due to lack of collection centres, price controlling mechanisms, and export.
Ratib supported the suggestion from Datuk Yusof Yaacob (Sindumin-BN) in setting up a durian board to improve the quality of the fruit in the state. – The Vibes, July 20, 2022
