SERDANG: A SECOND echelon in the agriculture sector is needed as the nation needs to sustain this crucial sector.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the second echelon should comprise of the younger generation who could incorporate modern technology and innovation into the sector.
He said restructuring the agriculture sector into a modernised field could bring in big returns as it had huge potential.
He said this at the opening of the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism International Show 2012 (Maha) and also the Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen's Day 2012, here yesterday.
Najib said Maha was the perfect platform to trigger innovative thinking and changes to the agriculture sector.
He said the nation's transformation in the agriculture sector had been positive and credited it mainly to innovative thinking.
He said the agro food sector contributed RM6.7 billion for the third quarter of the nation's gross domestic product, up 6.4 per cent from last year.
"This proves that transformation in the agriculture sector has happened and is continuing."
He said crop, livestock and the fisheries subsectors registered positive growth, at RM2.6 billion or 7.6 per cent, RM1.7 billion or 7.1 per cent and RM2.4 billion or 4.7 per cent, respectively.
The export value of food products from January to June 2012 amounted to RM9.9 billion, an increase of 2.8 per cent compared with the same period last year.
"The government will continue to focus on the agriculture sector to increase national income from projects like oil palm, rubber, high-value herbs and padi."
Later during his visit to the various booths and pavilions, Najib launched a new padi variety produced by Mardi.
The new variety named MR 269 is a normal inbred variety which has a better resistance against the leaf blast disease and pests.
He also launched a mill specifically for the fragrant rice.
Present were Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar, secretary-general of the ministry Datuk Mohd Hashim Abdullah, and the director-general of Mardi Datuk Dr Abd Shukor Abd Rahman.
The seventh edition of MAHA started on Friday and will last until next Sunday.
It is hosted by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Ministry and organised by MARDI.
More than 2,200 local and foreign companies from 23 countries are participating in the show.
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