PENAMPANG: Inside the many huts covered with farming nets along a hilly stretch of road to Tambunan here, are prized “shiitake” mushrooms cultivated by villagers for the last three decades.
Most households there are contract farmers for the Rural Development Corporation (KPD) and growing shiitake has been the main source of income for the small Kampung Togudon community since the 1990s .
Midin Dompoton, 54, who began cultivating shiitake mushrooms in 1991, now earns a decent income that has allowed him to raise his six children and live comfortably in the chilly hills of the village which is part of the Crocker Range about 35km from here.
Sabah produces over 40 tonnes of shiitake mushrooms annually from three locations including Kimanis and Kundasang, areas that are part of the same range but in different districts.
“I also grow rice and vegetables nearby but my main income comes from shiitake,” he said of the product that was introduced by the government through its many policies to help the rural poor through agriculture such as the Sabah Barisan Nasional government Mini Estet Sejahtera or Mesej programme.
Eradicating poverty is one of the key thrusts in the Sabah BN Manifesto for the 14th General Election on May 9.
“To me the most important thing is to put in the effort because as far as assistance from the government is concerned, there are plenty. We just have to work hard and though growing mushrooms may seem easy but its not.
“Its about having the right discipline and dedication,” said Midin, a father of six, whose day starts at 5am watering the 10,000 tubular bags in his hut that measures 50m in length and 13m wide by the road along Jalan Penampang-Tambunan.
Midin who now earns an average of about RM3,000 monthly said when he was younger he used to earn RM6 per day working on farms in other areas before returning to Togudon where he started his own mushroom hut when he was still a bachelor.
“I came from a poor family, many of us came from very poor families in this village, but help came to us and we took full advantage of it. There is a lot of hardwork involved but complaining about it will not bring us anywhere.”
Poverty rate in Sabah stood at 2.9 per cent in 2016 and the BN government aims to reduce it zero per cent by 2035. In 2009 it stood at 19.7 per cent and it dropped to 8.1 per cent in 2012.
Mesej is one of the main programmes introduced to eradicate hardcore poverty through systematic agricultural development projects which includes providing houses and other amenities for communities.
There are now 52 Mesej projects across the state involving 2,500 households.