PAPAR: The Agriculture and Fisheries Ministry will strategise the way forward to develop and expand the vanilla industry in the State.
Its minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan said this is because the orchid is a highly profitable cash crop, even if planted on a very small plot of land.
An acre of land can house 1,000 vanilla trees, each of which yields 500g of green beans per year on average. A middle-aged plantation can yield range approximately 500 kg of green beans per acre under reasonable management.
“One kilogramme of the gross product is worth between RM1200 and RM2,500, while a litre of the extracted oil can be worth up to RM80,000. So, it is a highly lucrative business.
“It does not need a huge area to cultivate, so each family can try their hand at this industry,” he said.
On top of that, he said there is a ready market for the product since it is always in high demand and used in a variety of industries such as food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical.
The ministry, through the Koperasi Pembangunan Desa (KPD) operates a vanilla nursery in Beaufort, which has been in operation since 2007 when the vanilla programme was first introduced to interested farmers in Sabah.
One farmer who benefitted from the programme was Leo Komuji, whose My Kebun Vanilla in Kinarut here has earned him nearly half a million ringgit since he began more than ten years ago.
He was introduced to vanilla through the KPD programme, but he continued to invest and learn more about the industry by using the internet and finding advice from experts.
Kitingan said Komuji’s valuable experience and expertise in the industry could help other farmers interested in the cash crop start their own farms.
“As the agriculture and fisheries minister, I would like to see the vanilla industry in Sabah develop into a new and exciting industry that we can promote globally,” he said.-pr/BNN
