PUTRAJAYA, Feb 12 — The Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Ministry 2019-2020 Roadmap to ensure food security and revenue generation will be announced at an event in the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) this Thursday.

Its minister, Datuk Salahuddin Ayub, said the two focal points became his ministry’s priority when he was put in charge nine months ago.

"The roadmap is an initiative by the ministry to lift the agriculture sector which has not been successful in piquing the interest of the private sector compared to commodities,” he said after a Meet the Press event today.

He said the roadmap has five key thrusts which are interconnected and "all of them are important to guarantee food security through higher productivity using the latest technology”.

According to him, the agricultural sector contributes about three per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the import allocation for food and the various farming sectors is RM50 billion per year.

For farmers to improve their income, he said, the government is encouraging mixed farming so that they are not too dependent on one source or badly affected by the impact from disease or price fluctuations.

"The step was taken because despite being independent for more than 60 years, our farmers remain trapped in poverty, with the majority in the B40 income group,” Salahuddin said. — Bernama