ASAJAYA: Corn cultivation has emerged as a growing rural industry capable of strengthening community incomes, with sustained demand and multiple planting cycles making it a promising contributor to Sarawak’s agricultural economy.
Asajaya assemblyman, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, said the rapid growth of corn farming in the area over the past decade demonstrated that the crop offers attractive returns for farmers.
He said the industry’s continued expansion showed it was commercially viable, as farmers would not continue cultivating corn if it failed to generate sustainable income.
“If the returns were not good, they would have stopped planting. The fact that the industry continues to grow from year to year shows it is sustainable and provides good returns,” he said when officiating at the Pesta Jagung Kampung Rebak Daerah Asajaya today.
Abdul Karim noted that unlike in the past, buyers now travelled directly to Kampung Rebak to purchase harvested corn before distributing it to markets, including Miri and Brunei, reflecting strong market demand.
“This shows that demand for corn is very encouraging. It is a good industry from an economic perspective and has the potential to continue generating better returns,” he added.
He urged the Department of Agriculture and relevant agencies to provide greater support to corn growers, particularly in helping them cope with rising fertiliser and pesticide costs while improving farming productivity.
According to him, farmers should not be left to develop the industry on their own, stressing that targeted assistance would help ensure the sector continued to expand.
Abdul Karim also highlighted the agricultural potential of the area’s peatland, saying proper drainage and land management had transformed formerly unproductive land into fertile areas suitable for various crops, including corn, oil palm, coconut and even durian.
He said corn was particularly attractive because of its relatively short growing period of about 70 days, enabling farmers to harvest two or even three planting cycles annually, compared with many traditional crops.
“This means farmers have greater opportunities to increase their annual income through more frequent harvests,” he said.
Looking ahead, Abdul Karim proposed expanding the cultivation of feed corn alongside sweet corn, saying the crop could support the livestock industry through the establishment of storage silos and a more organised animal feed supply chain.
He also described Samarahan and Asajaya as part of Sarawak’s “food belt”, saying the areas were well positioned to supply vegetables and other agricultural produce to Kuching and surrounding urban centres.
He said the key to improving livelihoods ultimately depended on how well communities utilised the land and opportunities available to them.
“If we are willing to work hard, the returns will come,” he said.
