KANGAR: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry has approved a RM1 million allocation to the state government for the management of harumanis farming in Perlis.
Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the ministry would also consider an additional allocation for research purposes in order to enhance the quality of the state’s iconic mangoes as it was also one of the country’s assets which needed to be developed.
He pointed out that one of the issues that should be discussed and addressed by the relevant quarters was whether to maintain the mango as a seasonal fruit, or work on methods to make it an all year round fruit in a controlled environment.
“Harumanis has a huge potential to be developed further, for example in neighbouring countries, products made from mangoes are promoted to locals and tourists.
“However, if we want to come out with a similar project, we need a sufficient amount of supply throughout the year,” he said in a press conference here today.
Shabery added, all harumanis industry players including the farmers, needed to step up their efforts in ensuring the quality of the mangoes were up to international standards.
He cited the example of some countries which required that fruits for export purposes to be plucked or harvested from the trees and not from the ones that had fallen from trees, or been in contact with the soil, for reasons of food safety.
Earlier, he opened a workshop on Enhancing Perlis Harumanis Farming 2017 jointly organised by Universiti Putra Malaysia Alumni Association (PAUPM), Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) and Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA).
The two-day workshop was attended by over 200 harumanis farmers and traders. Also present were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man and PAUPM president Datuk Seri Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail.
