KOTA KINABALU, July 20 — A total of 2,053 hectares of Musang King durian plantations have been developed in Sabah as of last year which is seen to be able to increase the income of the people in the state, the Sabah State Legislative Assembly was told today.
Sabah Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Datuk James Ratib said the durian industry, especially Musang King, was one of the priority crops in the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan 2021-2025.
Therefore, he said that under the 12th Malaysia Plan, his ministry, through the state Agriculture Department, has and will develop 660 hectares of premium durian plantations of Musang King and Duri Hitam involving 53,460 trees in 20 districts statewide.
“This move is implemented through the premium durian crop development project which involves assistance between RM10,000 and RM25,000 per hectare.
“The assistance provided will include land clearing, quality seedling planting material and agricultural inputs, fertilisers and farm equipment,” he said in his reply to an oral question from Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohamed Yassin (GRS-Nabawan) on the state government’s plan to increase the income of the people.
James said through the premium durian crop development project, 660 participants were given basic durian cultivation courses and training at the farmers’ training centres in Sandakan, Kota Marudu and Tenom to ensure that durian cultivation was carried out in accordance with good agricultural practices.
He said in terms of the research programme, the Agriculture Department has been implementing the propagation of Musang King crops to produce new varieties and disease-resistant varieties, apart from agronomic management of durian crops that had been implemented and adopted.
“In 2022, a total of 21,500 Musang King and 4,000 Duri Hitam saplings will be produced by the agriculture station. The authenticity of the plants produced is verified under the Scheme of Planting Material Validation (SPBT).
“Apart from the Agriculture Department, there are four private nurseries that have received SPBT certificates with a total of 482 Musang King and 62 Duri Hitam trees as a source of bud-grafting for propagation purposes,” he said.
He said that based on the farm gate price of Musang King at RM30 per kilogramme, the gross income per hectare involving 81 Musang King trees per year was RM349,920 with optimal farm management.
“The income of durian entrepreneurs can be further increased through downstream activities such as durian ice cream, durian cake, dodol and other durian-based products,” he said.
