KUCHING: Every department and agency under Sarawak’s agriculture sector should have at least one artificial intelligence (AI) expert to help speed up transformation and boost productivity.
Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said the use of AI could no longer be treated as optional, but had to become part of efforts to improve the efficiency of service delivery, research and the development of the state’s agriculture sector.
“Every department or agency under this ministry needs to have at least one AI expert to guide and help us make use of the technology for improvement purposes.
“We can no longer just plan for the sake of planning.
Every initiative must produce clear outcomes and benefit the sector as well as the people,” he said.
He was speaking at the Innovation Award Ceremony organised under the Ministry’s Innovative and Creative Circle (ICC) mini-convention here, last night (Jun 23).
At the same time, Dr Rundi also called for the production of tuak that is of better quality, more consistent and meets market standards in order for the traditional beverage to be commercialised more widely.
He said the traditional product had great potential to be developed into a high-value product, similar to the success of the wine industry in developed countries.
However, he said such efforts would require standardisation of the production process, as the quality of tuak produced currently remained inconsistent due to the different methods and ingredients used by individual producers.
“When we go to a longhouse or attend a function, the quality of tuak produced is not necessarily the same. Some are sweet, some are a little bitter, and some are sour.
“That is what we need to look at in terms of quality control and standardisation if we want this product to go further,” he said.
