A total of 953,373 hectares of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land has been developed for large-scale commercial agriculture across Sarawak.
Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said the development involves a number of agencies and individual farmers, with a total investment value of RM81 million in 2025.
“As the last frontier of land development, NCR land plays a strategic role in driving economic growth, strengthening food security, and advancing rural transformation.
“The government remains committed to developing idle and under-utilised NCR land productively and sustainably while safeguarding the rights and interests of landowners,” he said.
He said this during his ministerial winding up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today (May 19).
He added that the management and development of NCR land require a holistic and coordinated approach involving legal, economic, social, environmental, and governance considerations.
“As such, applications for NCR land development are evaluated and approved through a One Stop Committee on NCR Land Development for areas below 100 hectares; and State Task Force on NCR Land Development for areas exceeding 100 hectares,” he added.
Additionally, he said private companies seeking to invest in NCR land must undergo evaluation by the Investment Evaluation Committee to ensure they possess the credibility, expertise, technical capability, and financial capacity to undertake the projects successfully.
