Deputy Minister Len Talif Salleh gave the September progress figures at a bamboo industry seminar in Kuching on October 9. The planting involves 18 commercial companies and 200 community participants. The targets are 30,000 hectares for commercial plantations and a separate 2,000 hectares for community planting.

The figures put planted acreage at roughly one-sixth of the combined target. But acreage alone will not deliver a viable supply chain: Len Talif called for better planting material, suitable cultivation technology and consistent bamboo quality for industrial buyers.

PUSAKA is working with industry partners on commercial trials involving bamboo charcoal briquettes, activated carbon, bamboo-shoot flour and pulp. These are development trials, not a promise of buyers or income for every grower.

For Sarawak's rural producers, the next practical test is whether planting expansion connects to processing capacity, product standards and skilled workers—not simply whether more land is planted.