01/08/05 KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) -- The Serdang Valley covering 2,400hectares will be developed into an "agropolis" of research institutionsthat play a key role in upgrading the agriculture sector, Datuk SeriAbdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

The Prime Minister said the plan would involve the Malaysian AgriculturalResearch and Development Institute (Mardi), Universiti Putra Malaysia andthe Agriculture Department.

He said they would formulate a framework of cooperation with other similarinstitutions such as Malaysia Technology Park and Malaysian Cocoa Board tocreate the agropolis.

"Hopefully, the agropolis will further strengthen the nation's agriculturesector," he said when launching the Mardi Bio-Business Showcase 2005 inSerdang near here Saturday.

Elaborating on the plan at a news conference later, Abdullah said the newera of agriculture laid emphasis on laboratory research to increaseagricultural output and quality.

"We are giving priority to modernising the traditional forms ofagriculture by using better methods.

"This will be based on a research-to-market approach to increase output oflivestock, crops and so on. The production will also be of high qualitythat can be marketed fresh with value-add," he said.

He said the approach had been proven effective in Holland which is amongthe world's largest food producers despite its limited land area.

"Since we have achieved excellence in the rubber industry through theRubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) and in the oil palm industrythrough Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (Porim), we can do itagain for the new agriculture sector," he said.

Abdullah said it was not impossible for Malaysia to achieve this objectiveas the country could adapt its existing technology for use in upgradingagriculture.

Earlier in his speech, the Prime Minister urged Malaysians not to lookdown on the agriculture sector which still offered many opportunities.

He cited ornamental fish and flowers as examples, saying there was ademand for the products overseas but the present exports were very small.

On the other hand, he said, Malaysians were fond of importing food fromabroad and the food bill was expected to rise to RM10 billion by 2010.

"We want to import everything. If we were to look at the curry puff, ithas more foreign ingredients than the Proton Saga -- wheat flour, potatoand even the spices in it are not produced locally," he said.

He said many countries had shown that agriculture could yield lucrativereturns if genuine efforts were put in and assisted by sophisticatedtechnology.

Later, accompanied by Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan SriMuhyiddin Yassin and Mardi Director-General Datuk Saharan Anang, the PrimeMinister spent three hours touring the booths at the showcase site in thecompound of Mardi's headquarters where more than 300 products weredisplayed.

-- BERNAMA