KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has called for change among farmers, livestock breeders and fishermen, saying change is needed for them to succeed.

The prime minister said they should discard old ways of doing things, which were no longer suitable to the current situation, if they wanted to earn a better income.

Citing the traditional practice of "tanam, tinggal dan tuai" (plant, leave and harvest) in planting durian, he said the method should now be changed by planting a high quality durian.

"If we plant the Musang King durian, we can be assured of a high value because the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama) will buy the fruits. Fama has contracts with dealers in towns and cities to sell the durian.

"They should plant this type of durian and not the 'kampung durian' because when there is a glut, the kampung durian fetches only RM1 each," he said when opening the 2009 National Farmers' Market Convention and launching the Farmers' Market Caravan here Monday.

Also present were Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar and Fama chairman Datuk Paduka Badruddin Amiruldin.

The prime minister is also confident that Fama's proactive and innovative ideas in introducing the Farmers' Market Caravan or mobile farmers' market would benefit not only farmers but also consumers.

The initiative would enable consumers to obtain fresh and quality agricultural products.

Farmers could also sell their products as gourmet, he said.

"This shows that agriculture does not necessarily mean low income as it can also bring about high returns to farmers," he said.

Najib also said that the government would continue to give attention to agriculture, saying his father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein had been fighting for cause of farmers during his tenure as the second Prime Minister of Malaysia.

It was for this reason that in the 2010 Budget the government allocated RM6 billion for the sector to uplift the living standards of farmers, breeders and fishermen, he said.

-- BERNAMA