Travelling through Malaysia's rice bowl state prompts the writer to uncover innovative measures in the past that overcame food shortages and high prices
Picturesque padi fields along the road to the airport were too eye-catching to ignore. With time to spare, I bring my trusty Honda C70 to a halt beside Gunung Keriang, a solitary hill standing conspicuously on the vast northern Kedah plain. To locals, this limestone outcrop is known as Elephant Hill due to its resemblance to a crouching elephant.
Several farmers spraying fertiliser in the distance bring to mind Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor's recent call to maximise rice production in view of food security concerns.
He was confident that Kedah, as the rice bowl of Malaysia, could serve the nation by taking all measures to ramp up production.
ANCIENT INDUSTRY
The emergence of other villagers, with buckets filled with bat droppings from the lonely limestone outcrop, serves as a reminder that people have been working this blessed land since time immemorial, reaping bountiful harvests while using guano from the caves in the hill as the main nutrient supplement for their crops.
Padi cultivation was introduced from mainland southeast Asia to the Malay archipelago by Deutero-Malays more than three millennia ago. Over the centuries, padi planting was the mainstay of the Malay economy and, to a large extent, determined their rural way of life. Before the mid-19th century, farmers were concentrated in kampungs along coasts and rivers, where water for irrigation was within easy reach, This led a subsistence life where very little cash was handled.
Back then, there was little incentive to accumulate wealth as unscrupulous chiefs and marauding bandits were quick to pounce on surpluses. Furthermore, the unavailability of savings banks increased the risk of losses through theft, flood or fire. As a result, there was no excess capital for equipment purchases to increase production.
Lack of progress was also caused by the farmers themselves, who did not see their work as an economic or business undertaking.
To a majority, padi planting was a way of life where the village pawang padi, whose position was second only to the headman, or penghulu, was often called upon to conduct elaborate rituals to ensure successful planting cycles.
These practices faded after British interventions in the 1870s. Colonial administrators considered these practices as hindrances to efficient cultivation.
Pawang padi activities, seen as a waste of time and money, were suppressed when state religious authorities declared that these animistic practices and beliefs were un-Islamic.
Scientific methods became preeminent when district officers took over the pawang padi's role of determining sowing, transplanting and harvesting periods.
Initial resistance to change dissipated when farmers realised that bountiful harvests were the result of controlled water supply rather than rituals.
The tin mining and rubber cultivation booms in the late 19th century saw demand for rice increase sharply as Chinese and Indian immigrants arrived by the shipload.
With only Kedah, Kelantan and Perlis recording harvest surpluses, rice had to be imported from Siam (today Thailand), Burma (now Myanmar) and French Indochina (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam today) to meet the rapid increase in demand.
IRRIGATION TECHNIQUE
At the same time, the colonial government's pro-Malay stance ensured that the rice industry continued receiving assistance.
Apart from the passing of Malay Reservation Enactments, which set aside land for Malay ownership, this wide-ranging policy cemented the colonial government's belief in allowing peasants to continue living on the lands they owned and the food they grew rather than replacing their time-tested padi fields and orchards for uncertain new crops that fluctuated in demand and prices.
Among rice-producing Malayan states, Kedah was constantly at the forefront, with nearly all Malay workers engaged in this industry. Grown on a commercial basis, the success or failure of the crop had an important bearing on state coffers.
Lack of irrigation in the years leading up to the 1880s saw fields concentrate around Alor Star, with others stretching as far inland as Langgar and northwards along the road to Perlis.
Eager to expand cultivation, Wan Muhammad Saman embarked on an ambitious project to build a 36km canal connecting Sungai Kedah in Alor Star, southwards to the Gunung Jerai foothills. Inspiration to turn vast swamplands into padi fields came after the first Kedah menteri besar saw how canals were used in Bangkok.
Many unpaid labourers, mobilised through the kerah system, succumbed to malaria. The swamps were so infested with mosquitoes that ropes securing mosquito nets were said to break under the weight of the insects landing on them at night. Although work began in August 1885, progress was severely hampered when workmen abandoned their posts and escaped to Penang.
Left with no alternative, Wan Muhammad Saman compensated the remaining workers with his savings and brought in Chinese labourers to work in the most challenging areas. Work progressed round the clock as the canal had to be ready before the next planting season.
Thousands of jamung (bamboo torches) were lit at night so that work could continue. The line of lit torches also ensured that the canal was well aligned and followed the contours of the land so that water flowed unimpeded.
PAST SHORTAGES
Contrary to popular belief, food shortages and the resulting protectionist policies are not modern phenomena. The global food shortages because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is just the latest crisis. Malaya experienced its first serious rice shortage during World War 1, when Siamese rice harvest failures led to prolonged export bans.
Compounded by similar catastrophes in India and Burma, rice prices skyrocketed. Malaya had to spend $42 million on rice import subsidies before some normalcy returned.
With the war also causing a significant slump in tin and rubber prices, the colonial government was determined to improve food security.
The need to increase planting areas and yields per acre while improving rice quality became urgent even though it was cheaper to import the staple.
The Federated Malay States government undertook the Krian Irrigation Scheme in northwest Perak. It was the first and only large-scale development of its kind in Malaya until 1930, when the Great Depression brought about an even stronger interest in food production. This resulted in the establishment of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), the forerunner of today's government agency.
Two years later, DID launched the Sungai Manik Growing Scheme in Perak, where land was parcelled out after the construction of water works. Pioneers found the work of clearing the jungle by themselves too arduous, and left.
They were eventually lured back from neighbouring rubber and coconut holdings when a subsidy of $33 per acre was handed out.
Drawing lessons from that scheme, DID was more careful in implementing its next project, the Tanjung Karang Irrigation Scheme in Selangor. The multi-staged project progressed smoothly with the Panchang Bedena area the first of several sites to start production in 1937.
JAPANESE CONTRIBUTION
The shortages of three decades earlier came back to haunt Malaya when World War 2 broke out in Europe. Anxieties over rice imports prompted work acceleration in Tanjung Karang in September 1939.
Although construction came to a halt when conflict arrived on Malayan shores two years later, the introduction of quick maturing Taiwanese varieties by the Japanese proved to be one of the few bright spots for an agricultural sector mired by neglected irrigation works, disrupted credit facilities and transportation failures during the occupation.
These new varieties paved the way for double-cropping, a practice largely unknown to local farmers before Malaya fell to the Japanese.
But double-cropping during those strife-torn years was unsuccessful because the attempts were hurried and resource-deprived.
Double-cropping was successful in the post-war years through the development of shorter-term main season varieties, better irrigation, introduction of tractors to speed up ploughing and superior fertiliser.
The most serious problem during those early days of double-cropping surfaced when landlords began demanding double the rent after realising that tenants were harvesting twice a year instead of just once. Over time, this was resolved through compromise.
By the late 1950s, Malayan padi production had improved by leaps and bounds, enabling yields and planting area to compare favourably with other Southeast Asian counterparts.
Steady progress on all fronts in the next two decades made sure that Malaysia was less dependent on imported rice.
By the 1970s, domestic production met 75 per cent of rice demand in Malaysia. This was an admirable achievement considering the pre-war percentage was well below 40.
Back to the road in Kedah.
A bronze sculpture of a farmer working the field with a pair of oxen by the nearby Muzium Padi entrance brings to mind how much padi planting has progressed over the years.
Current food supply challenges can be surmounted through concerted efforts by all parties and the success will serve as a basis for this sector to reach even greater heights in future.