KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's rankings in the Global Food Security Index (GSFI) plunged to 48th position in 2020 due to the change in indicators to determine the placings.
Deputy Agriculture and Food Industry Minister I Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah told the Dewan Rakyat today that Malaysia was ranked 28th among 113 countries in 2019.
"The drop in rankings was due to the change of indicators by the economic intelligence unit which performed the vetting (assessment) on the GSFI.
"The change in the indicators did not only affect the rankings of our country in the GSFI but also Singapore.
"At one time, Singapore was placed first before their rankings dropped to the 15th spot due to the change in indicators under the GSFI," he said.
Ahmad (BN - Jasin) was responding to an additional question by Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir (PN - Setiu) who asked on the reason why the country's ranking in GSFI dropped and measures to reduce dependence on supply of food items, especially rice from other countries to meet the demands of domestic consumption.
Earlier, Ahmad said collaborations were ongoing between the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) and higher education institutions for padi seeds that are able to produce higher yield.
He said this includes the new padi seed, IS21, developed by Nuclear Malaysia in Sekinchan.
"The government through its agencies is not only collaborating with higher education institutions in the country but also with other countries around the world.
"This is to help the country achieve its target of 75 per cent self-sufficiency level (SSL)," he said.
Ahmad also told the House that the government has introduced the Large-Scale Smart Padi Field (Smart SBB) project in February last year to increase the country's padi production.
The Smart SBB project, he said, is an initiative by the government to increase the country's average padi production to seven metric tonnes per hectare throughout the implementation period of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).
He said currently, the average national padi production stood between 3.5 and 4.5 metric tonnes per hectare.
"The Smart SBB will help the country increase padi production and achieve our target of 75 per cent SSL by 2025 or before the end of the 12MP," he said.
He was responding to a question by Khalid Samad (PH - Kota Raja) who asked the ministry to state efforts to reduce dependency on imported rice for local consumption.