Unisza Agropreneur Incubator Project To Produce Viable Agricultural Entrepreneurs - Assoc Prof

KUALA NERUS, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- The Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) graduates' Terengganu Sweet Melon Agropreneur Incubator programme funded by CIMB Islamic is capable of producing viable agricultural entrepreneurs. 

The project leader, Assoc Prof Dr Fakhrul Anwar Zainol said 20 UniSZA graduates from the asnaf and B40 groups were selected for the pilot project, which started in October. 

Fakhrul Anwar, a lecturer at the university's Centre for Knowledge Transfer and Continuing Education, said the pilot project involves 6,000 Terengganu sweet melon plants on a 0.6-hectare area in the UniSZA Tembila campus in Besut. 

"We are grateful to CIMB Islamic for the RM350,000 to fund the construction of two greenhouses and provide training for the 20 graduates.   

"The graduates went through two stringent screening processes to ensure they are keen and capable of pursuing a career in agriculture," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Fakhrul Anwar said the Terengganu sweet melon was chosen for the project because it has a high market price and can be harvested in three months.

The first harvest of approximately three tonnes is expected to be in mid-December, and will be sold to suppliers in Kuala Lumpur, he said.

"In addition to providing job opportunities to the graduates, this programme also aims to promote agriculture as a preferred career on par with other professional fields," he said, adding that Yayasan DiRaja Sultan Mizan will monitor the project.

Fakhrul Anwar said after one year, the participants will be guided and assisted in terms of land and capital to venture into sweet melon farming on their own.

He said there is still ample space on the 400-hectare UniSZA Tembila campus, which can be the site of numerous agriculture projects in the future.

"We will continue the project with another 20 graduates after this one is completed. We expect this project to generate between RM4,000 and RM5,000 per month for the graduates," he said.

-- BERNAMA