SHAH ALAM – Selangor residents have the opportunity to obtain fresh agricultural products from farms and factories as eight permanent market sites are available with these products via the Selangor Agro Market (SAM) programme this September.
Exco of Infrastructure and Public Facilities, Modernization of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Ir Izham Hashim, said that all market sites created in collaboration with the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) are open every Saturday and Sunday and offers a much cheaper sale price for fresh produce compared to outside markets.
“This is quite unique because we will not compete with the farmers market, instead SAM has its own customers through new branding and tents apart from having a new site,” he said.
“Participants are required to conduct sales on the site while their products are sourced directly from the farm, other than that no intermediary is allowed to do business in the market,” he added.
Previously, the SAM programme started earlier last year involving the implementation of 87 locations in nine districts in Selangor, with sales of RM 5.2 million.
The programme offers a number of touch-point activities including the Direct Sales Programme of the Farm and Farm-based products factory, offering lower prices of five to 25 per cent.
In addition, Ir Izham said the implementation of the program was an approach to support the agriculture, livestock and fisheries sector in Selangor, while ensuring that sales and marketing were in line with the development of other agricultural industries.
“Sometimes the crop is large but there is no place to market it, so we are thinking of equipping the chain so that the fresh produce from the farm and the act of reaching out to consumers at the outlet is convenient and practical to them,” he said.
It is understood that the objectives of the SAM programme are aimed at increasing the marketing network access to agropreneurs at the production level to increase revenue.
In addition, it is also a marketing plan to market agricultural produce in the event of dumping (seasonal fruits) in the market.
