Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter

source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html

MRT Japan wants its partnership with Malaysian firm JPB Asia Pacific to expand its collaboration with farmers in the Northern Corridor Economic Region to the rest of the country.

Read more: Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html#ixzz211fK1kci


If Malaysian contract farmers participating in a planned programme to supply premium fruits and vegetables to Japanese markets play their cards right, they may very well put the country on the agriculture map for such crops.

MRT Japan Co Ltd, which currently has contract farming programmes in China and Indonesia, wants its partnership with Malaysian firm JPB Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd to succeed and expand its existing collaboration with farmers in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to the rest of the country.

"We want to make our collaboration successful not only in Penang and Kedah, but also to improve the quality and value of the fruits and vegetables available in Malaysia," the company's president Shiro Komura told Malaysian reporters here yesterday.

The visit is part of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority's drive to boost the agriculture sector in the NCER states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak. Also present was NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq.

Read more: Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html#ixzz211fUKDdu


Komura said a contract farming arrangement with China, which was set up by his company more than two decades ago, had been reviewed and imports from China have now been "minimal".

"We have also tried this in Indonesia since two years ago, but so far the production has not met our stringent export requirements," he added.

Stressing that Japanese consumers - both in Japan and those living abroad - were particular about food security, Komura said that initial collaboration with farmers in China had seen the produce pass all quality checks.

"This is because we have been supporting them with fertilisers and methods which are up to Japanese standards," he added.

MRT Japan is engaged in the marketing of horticultural products including fruits and vegetables in Japan and overseas.

The company and JPB Asia Pacific on Monday inked an agreement to set up a joint-venture company for their collaboration in Malaysia, which has seen RM35 million ploughed in for two green cultivation houses in Ara Kuda and Bukit Kura in Kedah, respectively, for crops such as rockmelons, chillies and Japanese pumpkins.

An extra RM70 million is due to be injected till 2015 which will see the creation of some 100 agropreneurs and also 100 greenhouses.

Komura said two Japanese farmers have expressed interest to farm in the northern states and several contract farmers from Japan have been going to Penang to test the soil for the farming needs of premium produce.

Redza said that via the recently inked collaboration, the NCIA is hoping that more investors from Japan will participate in the project, and help uplift the standard of living in the NCER.
"Agriculture is the way to go and we have a very efficient logistics network - via Penang Airport and MASkargo at the Penang International Airport - to support this initiative," added Redza.

Read more: Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html#ixzz211fc8xQH



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