Dr Eli Luhat

Researcher to help Penans go into farming By Nigel Edgar (The Borneopost)

KUCHING: DLT Institute researcher Dr Eli Luhat will find ways to expose Penan farmers to the Smart Farming programme.
Eli said this after the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between DLT Institute and Yayasan Ikhlas.
Penan farmers are having difficulties adapting to conventional farming due to their nomadic lifestyle, he pointed out.
“The MoC is for the implementation and development of Smart Farming or ‘Peladang Bestari’ programmes in the state.
“Now that we (DLT Institute) are cooperating with Yayasan Ikhlas, I hope that more rural farmers in the state, especially the Penans, would be able to benefit from the Smart Farming programme being developed by us,” he told a press conference after the MoC signing here yesterday.
Eli explained that the Smart Farming methods and system harmonises with the environment, social and economic factors for Penan farmers who are close to nature.
Unlike conventional farming which focuses on economics, he believed Smart Farming would be more accepted by rural farmers, especially Penans.
Eli said he will propose formulating a programme suitable for Penan farmers to the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based after more studies and research are done.
“I believe there is a suitable formula that the Penans can adapt to,” he said, adding that with Smart Farming, farmers would be able to achieve optimal benefits.
The MoC was signed by Yayasan Ikhlas chairperson Datuk Pengiran Juliana Pengiran Tambi and DLT Institute managing director Esther Mujan Wang.
DLT Institute has embarked on several research and experiments on commercial crops like jatropha, aquaculture, ‘gaharu’ and vanilla.
Yayasan Ikhlas will be providing financial aid to DLT Institute for research, development and training of interested farmers under the Smart Farming programme.

aku kata:

1. kita bagilah sokongan dan semangat untuk Dr Eli semoga Tuhan memberkati rancangannya ini.

2. untuk itu pesanan ikhlas seorang petani seperti aku ni untuk Dr Eli adalah 'semoga konsisten dalam usaha dan kerja,jangan hangat-hangat taik ayam dan jangan semata2 nak untung sendiri sahaja,orang miskin seperti aku ni lihat/tengok2 jugalah ya'.

3. kawan2 Penan kita ni memang patut pun ditolong,bukan dengan 'kebendaan' seperti wang ringgit dan beras tetapi dalam bentuk latihan/kemahiran(spt kata Dr Eli ni) dan mereka juga mesti ditolong dari aspek kerohanian(agama kristian) kerana saya sangat percaya dan yakin bahawa kawan2 Penan kita ini boleh berubah dengan didikan agama Kristian dan jangan lupa didiklah mereka supaya cinta akan ilmu pengetahuan maka minta mereka hantar anak-anak mereka sekolah.