Kota Kinabalu: The strength of a country can be gauged based on its ability to produce sufficient, safe and nutritious food sources, said Sabah Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.
He said this reflected the importance of agriculture to guarantee food security and generate economy for the people and the country.
However, he said, food production had become more challenging due to unpredictable weather, resource constraints, effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and international conflicts
“Therefore, the capacity of food production and access to food need to be increased to meet current needs,” he said when opening the 24th Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) convocation ceremony, here, Saturday.
Juhar, who is UMS Chancellor, said the State’s agricultural sector, which contributed 16.5 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, had yet to meet the domestic demand for major food commodities such as rice, fruits, vegetables and meat.
“Therefore, our country is still dependent on the import of food, which amounted to RM55.4 billion in 2020,” he added.
Juhar said Sabah had drawn up the State Agricultural Blueprint (2021-2030), which is in line with the 3rd Sabah State Agricultural Policy (2017-2026), to guarantee food supply in the State.
He said the implementation of the Sabah Agricultural Blueprint was based on four key principles, namely production, innovation, sustainability and human capital development.
This, he said, was in line with efforts by UMS in promoting high-tech agriculture through the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture (FPL), which is offering a programme for a Bachelor’s Degree in Smart Precision Farming from next year.
“This initiative by UMS is a big contribution to the field of agriculture and can indirectly contribute to food stability and guarantee employment opportunities for graduates,” he said.
A total of 4,298 UMS graduates will receive their scrolls at the convocation ceremony to be held for three days from Saturday.
UMS Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor said the graduates would include 3,798 receiving their bachelor’s degree, master’s degree (271) and doctorate (92).
There will also be 73 diploma graduates and 64 post-diploma graduates, he said, adding all the graduates completed their studies this year.
“The number of doctorate recipients, which is 92 this year, is the highest at a UMS convocation ceremony,” he said.
He said 126 international graduates, including from Japan, China, Korea, Brunei, Yemen, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Chad, Gabon, India, Mozambique, the Philippines and Timor-Leste, would also be among the graduates.
We also have 14 people with disabilities (PwDs) receiving their scrolls at this convocation, and the first batch of 24 graduates of the Bachelor’s Degree in Oil and Gas from the Faculty of Engineering, he added.
The UMS convocation ceremony will be held in six sessions, with the first session involving the presentation of the scrolls to the graduates by Sabah Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, who is UMS Chancellor, and the other sessions, by UMS Pro-Chancellor Tan Sri Azman Hashim and Kasim, himself.
Attendees at the convocation ceremony, including graduates, their parents and guardians, as well as the UMS staff, are encouraged to always wear face mask, especially when there are in the hall.
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