JULAU (Sarawak), July 19 — In many of his weekend walkabouts to some of the more than 200 longhouses here, Julau MP Datuk Joseph Salang’s often-repeated message is for the people to cultivate their idle land.
It is a routine too for him after each ‘ceramah’ (talk) to dutifully sign piles after piles of forms from those seeking his endorsement to apply for the various government grants to plant oil palm, pepper and rubber.
Just about a year ago, Salang, who is the deputy minister of tourism and culture, decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak.
With the assistance of his younger brother, he started a pepper farm on his two plots of land of over four hectares at KJD Road here.
Today, he has Sarawak’s biggest individually-owned pepper farm, with more than 8,000 vines.
“I have all along been asking the people to cultivate their land. There is no better prodding for them than myself taking the lead.
“For those with limited means, pepper cultivation is a better option compared to oil palm which needs a bigger growing area and more cost and is labour-intensive,” he said.
He said the price, although market-driven with cyclical lows, was still a key motivation, with a tonne of the black pepper recently selling at RM28,000 and the white variety going for RM46,000.
Salang is looking forward to his maiden harvest next year.
His farm is now the talk of the pepper fraternity. He is glad that there is now renewed interest in the commodity, with more and more farms being started.
Julau is also one of Sarawak’s main pepper growing areas. Salang said there were some very rich pepper farmers in the interior here.
“We have about 100 families planting a total of 100,000 vines in the Sungai Masit area here,” he said.
According to Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Sarawak had 16,000 hectares dedicated to pepper, with an annual production of 28,000 tonnes to make it the country’s largest pepper-producing state.
He said that under the 11th Malaysia Plan (2015-2020), the government was mulling 90 per cent downstream processing to create more job and business opportunities and for greater value added.
Pepper, he said, could be used to make perfume, among other things, and the country had the know-how except that this had yet to be exploited commercially.
Meanwhile, for the record, celebrated French chef Alain Ducasse, whose restaurants hold 19 Michelin stars, has high regard for Sarawak pepper.
“Grown on the island of Borneo, Sarawak black pepper tends to have pleasantly refined flavour and a relatively mild heat. Great for seasoning meats and poultry,” he is quoted to have said.
The Michelin stars are the hallmark of fine dining, with global restaurants reviewed anonymously using a three-star system since 1926 for Michelin Guides. — Bernama
