THE Johor government plans to increase the cultivation of coconut trees in the state by developing an area of ​​1,325 hectares, thus targeting a production projection of 124,313 tonnes of fruit by 2027.

State Agriculture, Agro-Based Industry and Rural Development Committee chairman Zahari Sarip said the coconut seed production centre under the management of the state Agriculture Department will be empowered to increase seed production in Johor.

“In order to meet the country’s coconut needs and maintain Johor as the main coconut producer, the state government plans to focus on this crop for the next five years,” he said at the State Legislative Assembly sitting at the Sultan Ismail Building, Kota Iskandar in Iskandar Puteri today.

He was replying to a question from Jefridin Atan (BN-Kukup) who wanted to know the state government’s initiative to help farmers in an effort to increase coconut production in Johor.

Zahari (BN-Buloh Kasap) said that although Johor was the main producer of coconut seeds in the country, the seeds produced do not reach the annual requirement which is estimated at 53,000 seeds.

“It is not enough because the production capacity of the Jorak Agricultural Centre (Coconut Seed Supply Centre) is around 28,000 seeds per year,” he said.

He said in addition to that, new coconut cultivation areas were created in Lembaga Kemajuan Johor Tenggara (Kejora) Kota Tinggi and the Kluang Modern Agriculture Project to encourage coconut cultivation.

“A programme to encourage people to plant coconuts was also created through the coconut seed assistance programme, to further increase cultivation and production.”

“The Agriculture Department will continue to encourage smallholders to develop their coconut crops by replanting old coconut areas by introducing new clones of high quality such as matag coconut and pandan coconut,” he said.

According to him, throughout this year as much as RM900,000 has been allocated for the rehabilitation and replanting of coconuts in Johor with RM500,000 coming from the federal government involving an area of ​​463 hectares and the rest from the state government involving ​​96 hectares.

“For existing coconut planters, the state government encourages them to cultivate plants in an integrated or interspersed manner such as cocoa or coffee. It will indirectly help increase the production of food crops in addition to existing coconut products,” he said. – Bernama, December 8, 2022.