Pandemic sees Tuaran community revive rice cultivation on abandoned land

 By Olivia Miwil - June 19, 2021 @ 1:49pm

Sabah Tourism Association representatives posing with farmers after experiencing traditional rice processing methods. - Pic courtesy of Forever Sabah

TUARAN: The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted villagers at Kampung Tinuhan and Kampung Lapasan Ulu here to venture into new business opportunities via rice planting.

Initiated and facilitated by Forever Sabah (FS), with a special grant from the Ministry of Finance's Yayasan Hasanah, Projek Padi involves 43 farmers from the two villages.

Apart from feeding the villages, the project has also launched a new local artisanal rice brand known as Wagas Dati which means "our rice" in the Dusun-Tindal language.

The name also represents the heritage and identity of this community of farmers.

For its first harvest, the project produced 28 tonnes of 34 varieties of rice from 15.38 ha of paddy land.

There was more than enough rice to meet their food needs and for sales, with a surplus of over two tonnes.

Wagas Dati has several special qualities which are organic, produced using a climate friendly approach via rice intensification system, and the rice is available polished and unpolished.

The project is also in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to test the glycaemic index of the rice whether it is suitable for diabetic patients.

"It is a proud Sabahan product in the spirit of better valuing ourselves, our work and our heritage while taking practical steps towards regaining food sovereignty in Sabah," said Katrina Ong of Forever Sabah, who designed the branding.

The product, priced from RM12 to RM21 per kg, is available at www.foreversabah.org/wagas-dati and all proceeds will go to the farmers.