BACHOK, April 3 — The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (Mafi) is targeting sales of agricultural products through the Contract Farming Programme to reach RM60 million this year.

Its Deputy Minister Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi said the programme under the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) will help to increase the production of vegetables and fruits in the country.

He added that Mafi, through Fama, also targets 1,000 participants nationwide in the programme throughout this year.

"The programme assists farmers to market their crops at a better price via wholesale or retail, and this is an ongoing effort by Fama.

"In fact, the farmers who participate in the programme will be assisted from the beginning of the planting process to marketing domestically and internationally,” he said.

He told this to reporters after a making a working visit to the Kelantan Fama Contract Farm Entrepreneur Project in Kampung Teluk Kemunting here today. Also present was state Fama director Wan Nora Wan Ahmad.

Earlier, Che Abdullah had handed over a replica cheque for RM7,000 to an entrepreneur, Mhd (rpt Mhd) Jasni Abd Rahman for cultivating green cucumber using the hanged fertigation technique using 1,100 polybags.

Meanwhile, Mhd Jasni, 46, said he used the allocation provided by Fama to cultivate the crop on 0.2 hectare of land since last March and is targeting to harvest 5.5 metric tonnes of cucumbers by the end of this month.

"The cucumbers will be marketed at the Farmers’ Wholesale Retail Market, Fama Kelantan Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) and also at the Mydin Kubang Kerian supermarket,” he said. — Bernama