BETONG: Farmers in Betong are set to benefit from an innovative pepper planting assistance scheme following the handover of agricultural inputs under the Betong Division Development Agency (BDDA) fund on Wednesday.

Held at the Betong District Agriculture Office, the ceremony was officiated by Member of Parliament for Betong, Dato Dr Richard Rapu, who symbolically handed over the inputs to participants.

According to Dato Dr Richard, a total of 30 smallholder farmers from Nanga Jelau, Jelau Atas, Batu Lintang and Graji Atas were selected for this pilot programme, involving a total allocation of RM360,000, or RM12,000 per participant.

“Each farmer will receive a complete set of inputs for planting 200 new pepper vines, including PVC support poles, cuttings, fertilisers, pesticides and sprayers.

This package is introduced as a pilot project to replace costly belian wood poles with PVC pipes which is a method successfully trialled by the Malaysian Pepper Board in recent years,” he said.

He also revealed that an anchor company has shown interest in purchasing fresh pepper directly from farmers, eliminating the need for drying and expanding opportunities for new downstream products such as pickled pepper, in addition to existing black and white pepper products.

“This is an important step to strengthen the pepper industry and ensure stable supply to meet demand.

At the same time, the government remains committed to supporting key crops such as pepper, rubber and oil palm as major sources of income for rural communities,” he added.

The initiative highlights the government’s ongoing efforts to uplift rural livelihoods through innovation, sustainability and better market access for local farmers.

Also present at the event were Betong Division Agriculture Officer, Leo Bin Toni, Administrative Officer from BDDA, Nur Ain Yihie, and UKAS Betong Division Officer, Tony Malang Chabu. -UKASnews