Its minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob said this was because the RM2 billion fund set up by the government and managed by Agrobank from 2008 until 2013 had been exhausted for loan provisions.
“The fund is a special government allocation. It is not a grant but a loan which the government provides for the agricultural sector.
“If the government can re-consider setting up the ‘Fund For Food’ again, it can help us to increase the country’s agricultural produce and we hope not to depend on imports one day,” he told reporters after officiating the ‘2014 Agricultural Technology Management and Economic Consultancy’ seminar, organised jointly by Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi),
Agrobank and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) here today.
However, he said, his ministry would conduct a study from the loan aspect such as the number of farming entrepreneurs who had succeeded through loans from the fund.
“If we can provide a good outcome, the government is likely to consider setting up the fund again,” he added.
— BERNAMA
