SERDANG: Information communication technology (ICT) and biotechnology will be incorporated in the agricultural sector to strengthen this sector to cushion the adverse impact of the global economy, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday.

The Prime Minister said the National Economic Council had already recommended and acknowledged agriculture as one of the primary sectors that could be developed further to cushion the adverse impact of the global economy.

The international advisory panel on biotechnology was also of the opinion that incorporating ICT and biotechnology in the agricultural sector would catalyse national development, especially in agriculture and the agro-based industry, he said at a gathering with farmers at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park here.

He said it could further enhance good agricultural practice, produce better seed and fertiliser and lead to the production of not only food products but also pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

Abdullah said Bank Negara had also acknowledged that agriculture was the third most important sector in terms of contribution to the country’s economic growth.

He said the government’s confidence in the agricultural sector was not an empty dream but was based on its efforts and strategies to develop the sector.

The notion that it was an outdated sector and needed no development was erroneous because it could generate thousands of ringgit in revenue, he said.

“Developing the agricultural sector is not something new because the Agriculture Ministry and Maha (Malaysia Agricultural & Horticultural Exposition) have been in existence for a long time. We’re only adding value to these things,” he said.

The farmers must also have faith in the sector, he said, adding that some farmers earned RM3 million a year by producing fruit sauces and some even made RM15 million a year by producing tapioca chips and frozen foodstuff.

“Don’t think it’s troublesome, nonsensical and a mere dream to attain success in agriculture,” he said.

Abdullah said human capital development among farmers must continue to be enhanced for them to learn new agricultural techniques and the use of research products.

They should not consider their learning days to be over because learning was a life-long process, he added.

He hoped that the gap between the agricultural and industrial sectors would be narrowed with the development of the former.

Besides the farmers, agencies under the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry must also play their role to develop the sector, said Abdullah who toured the exhibition gallery and inspected the products of agricultural research.