KOTA BARU: The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) is confident of achieving its sales target of RM1.5 billion from the farmers' markets throughout the country this year.
Its senior director of entrepreneurs development, Abdul Razak Abdul Majid attributed this to the tremendous sales results of RM880 recorded until August and various programmes carried out, including adding 17 more permanent farmers' markets.
He said currently there were 553 farmers' markets nationwide involving 24,000 entrepreneurs while the sales revenue from the farmers' markets last year was RM1 billion.
Fama has also developed the agro bazaar programme and people's shops to market agricultural produce from rural areas, he told reporters after opening the Selangor/Federal Territories Farmers' Markets Secretariat Enhancement Workshop here today.
Abdul Razak said since 2008, Fama had provided 443 three-wheeled motorcycles to wholesalers to buy agricultural produce from farmers in the rural areas.
"With the three-wheeled motorcycles, wholesalers can get their supplies for farmers' markets as lorries cannot get into some parts of rural areas as the roads are narrow," he said.
Meanwhile, Selangor/Federal Territories Fama director Mat Sani Hassan the workshop would enable the secretariat to learn on ways to strengthen the management of farmers' markets.
"We are also ready to buy fruits from Kelantan for farmers markets in Putrajaya or the Federal Territories where the demand is high," he said.-- Bernama