Sarawak premier to give seed fund to kick off Selangau coffee farming

SELANGAU, Dec 18 — The Sarawak government has identified Selangau as one of the areas in the state suitable for growing coffee.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg today said a seed capital will be given to farmers in the area to realise the potential.

“As a start, I will instruct the Food Industries, Commodities and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundie to give incentives to coffee farmers in Selangau,” he told reporters after opening the Selangau district office building and waterfront.

He believes that now is the right time to grow coffee plants in Selangau which already has machines to process coffee beans.

The premier also instructed Tamin assemblyman Christopher Gira to lead in conducting a study and look for the right seeds for distribution to coffee farmers.

In his speech earlier, Abang Johari said coffee cultivation is a good venture for the farmers to increase their household income.

“If the coffee beans are of special grades, then it means it will fetch good prices and this will become good income for the farmers,” he said.

Selangau MP Edwin Banta, who also spoke at the function, said he and Gira are working closely with the Agriculture Department and the community leaders to promote coffee farming.

He said they are distributing coffee seeds of Liberica species to the residents of longhouses who are interested in venturing into coffee farming.