Buck up, Dr M tells farmers ..HL: ..IN: JI NR.

(From New Straits Times (Malaysia))

KUALA LUMPUR, Sat. - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today farmers should carry out their duty to feed the nation as entrusted to them.

Besides alleviating their own poverty, fulfilling this trust would give farmers a sense of duty towards the country's overall development.

Their vision would not be limited to planting crops for their own consumption, but they would view themselves as stakeholders in the nation's progress.

"When we are given something to do, we do it wholeheartedly and to the best of our ability so it will be successful," Dr Mahathir said when launching the Gerakan Daya Wawasan (Vision and Empowerment Movement), a programme for rural communities, at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil here.

Citing the farmers in the United States as an example, he said even though a small percentage of America's population worked in agriculture, they were able to produce enough food to feed the rest of the country and for exports.

"Five per cent of their population live in rural areas while 95 per cent live in cities. Yet the five per cent can produce food for the majority.