Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Datuk Sri Stephen Rundi Utom speaks to Onesmas Agriculture chief executive officer Alfred Sia during the visit. — The Borneo Post picSIBU, June 24 — China-based Guoying Seed Corporation has expressed its interest to collaborate with Sarawak government to increase its rice production capacity.
“We are working closely with our local partner, Onemas Agriculture Sdn Bhd, where the trial planting of Honglian hybrid rice at the Sungai Padi experimental station in Bintangor near here has exhibited highly-promising results,” said Ding following a recent working visit to the station in Bintangor, near here.He said Guoying Seed Corporation hopes to help increase Sarawak’s rice production capacity in a bid to make the state self-sufficient in rice production.
Onemas Agriculture executive chairman Stephen Sia shared the success story of the pilot project at the Sungai Padi experimental station. “In fact, I was informed by Ding that it is possible to yield 13 metric tonnes per hectare due to Sarawak’s climate and soil condition, based on a farmer’s experience in the Philippines who gained a yield of 17 metric tonnes per hectare.