BINTULU: Sarawak Agrofest 2025 ended on a high note at Lasar Kenyalang, here, on Saturday (Aug 30), recording sales of over RM5.4 million throughout its eight-day run and drawing more than 800,000 visitors.
Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said Agrofest served as an excellent platform to connect government policies with farming communities while showcasing modern technologies such as drones, smart farming and profit-driven supply chain systems.
He underscored the crucial role of agriculture as the backbone of Sarawak’s socio-economic transformation, aligning with the state’s vision to become a net food exporter by 2030.
“Agriculture can no longer be seen as 3D work — dirty, dangerous and difficult.
“With new technology, mindset, and approaches, it can become a prestigious career that guarantees the future,” he said at the closing ceremony of Sarawak Agrofest 2025.
Dr Rundi also highlighted the nation’s food trade deficit, which reached RM7.6 billion in 2024, stressing the need to boost paddy production, strengthen downstream industries and develop local animal feed production.
Meanwhile, at a press conference, he proposed Bintulu as the permanent host of Sarawak Agrofest while expanding Mini Agrofest events to other divisions.
“To further enhance Agrofest, we need more vendors. This year we had 222 vendors, but we must also expand the Kitchen space and the live livestock section.
“We are on the right track to developing Agrofest into a mini Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism International (MAHA) exhibition,” he said.
Dr Rundi reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to transforming farming communities, especially rural B40 households, enabling them to increase family income in line with the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 target of RM15,000 per month.
