Youths and entrepreneurs will benefit from the 10 percent increase in the agricultural allocation announced in the 2023 Budget. Azizul Julirin, an agropreneur based in Kundasang, said the RM5.32 billion allocation announced by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz will encourage more participation in agriculture and the use of new technology.
"The sustainable development of agrofood initiatives, which involves modern farming projects based on controlled environment agriculture, such as plant factories, enables short-term food production to be done productively in urban areas using vacant spaces. "This will help increase self-sufficiency, besides encouraging technology use in the agricultural sector.
"The National Hardcore Poor Poverty Eradication program has a focus on agriculture as a source of income to bring people out of poverty," he said, adding that eight of the ten poorest districts nationwide are in Sabah.
Azizul, 34, hoped that the funding application process, whether it is a loan or a grant, could be smoothened, especially for rural farmers and agro-based startups.
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