SUNGAI SIPUT: Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah today opened the three-day Perak Agro Fest at Ladang Infoternak, here.
Also present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad and state secretary Datuk Ahmad Suaidi Abdul Rahim.
Saarani said the programme was a continuation of the efforts by the state government in strengthening food security, which is one of the six main agendas in the Perak Sejahtera 2030 plan.
Saarani added that the programme is the rebranding of the state Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen's Day Celebration.
"Through this programme, a strategic platform is created for farmers, breeders and fishermen to obtain the latest information and exposure in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry and agro-based industries," he said in his opening speech today.
He added that the state government has redoubled its efforts and initiatives to strengthen food security, particularly through the collaboration of agencies and departments related to the agricultural sector to generate large-scale food production.
"For the agricultural sector, the state's self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) in 2022 for 13 selected types of crops is sufficient and meets domestic demand with SSR values exceeding 100 per cent.
"It involves coconut, sweet corn, star fruit, papaya, guava, banana, spinach, okra, long beans, mustard, eggplant, cucumber and sweet potato.
"However, continuous efforts are being made for 16 types of crops that do not reach SSR, namely rice, jackfruit, durian, mango, mangosteen, rambutan, chilli, lettuce, lime, cassava, watermelon, tomato, pineapple, langsat, round cabbage and ginger," he said.
Saarani added that as for the fisheries sector, Perak is leading in the fisheries sector in the country with the highest amount of production for aquaculture and capture fisheries to record an SSL at a rate of 98.31 per cent in 2022.
"For the livestock commodity sector for the year 2022, poultry commodities have exceeded the 100 per cent SSR value, namely chicken/duck meat and chicken/duck eggs.
"In addition, fresh cow's milk is at an SSL rate of 94.4 per cent while the strategic collaboration of state agencies with stakeholders continues to be intensified to increase the SSR rate for the production of beef/buffalo and goat/sheep meat," he said.
To strengthen the guarantee of food security through continuous research and development, Saarani said Perak State Agricultural Development Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah to establish a Food Security Academy.
"This Food Security Academy is one of the main markers in the Perak Sejahtera 2030 development plan which will explore the field of food security which is still new and always requires innovation and creativity in addition to developing scientific research.
"We hope with the ongoing efforts, Perak will not only be able to strengthen aspects of food security but also become a platform for strengthening the national food security agenda as a whole in line with the National Food Security Policy Action Plan (2021-2025). and National Agrofood Policy 2.0 (2021-2030)," he added.