KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is expected to produce 1,000 metric tonnes of shallots under the pre-commercial phase of its onion cultivation development programme, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the ministry's strategy in reducing the nation's dependence on imported red onions would be implemented in two phases, namely the pre-commercial phase and the commercial phase.
"The pre-commercial phase aims to explore the potential of cultivating shallots in Malaysia.
"It involves an implementation period of two years; from 2024 (this year) to 2025 (next year).
"A total of 70 metric tonnes of shallots seeds and 230kg of seed grains will be supplied by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) in this phase.
"Meanwhile, for the planting programme, an area of 100ha of onion cultivation will be developed, which is 50ha this year and another 50ha next year, with an expected production yield of five metric tonnes per hectare.
"This onion planting would be carried out twice a year, with expected onion production for this phase being 1,000 metric tonnes," he said in reply to a question from Datuk Idris Ahmad (PN-Bagan Serai).
Idris asked about the ministry's strategy to achieve the goal of reducing onion imports by 30 per cent.
Under the commercial phase, Mohamad said the implementation period is five years, starting from 2026 to 2030.
"During this period, an area of 1,347ha of onion cultivation will be developed with an expected production yield of 14,470 metric tonnes.
"This would be able to meet 30 per cent of the local demand by 2030."
Mohamad said the cultivation of shallots has begun in the Farmers' Organisation Authority areas in Perlis and Selangor covering 1.2ha and in Ladang Bikam in Perak, covering one hectare.
"The first harvest is expected in April (this year)," he said.
Earlier, Mohamad said Malaysia depended on imported onions from India, the Netherlands, China, Pakistan, and Thailand.
"The types of fresh onions imported include large onions, small shallots and garlic.
"In 2022, Malaysia imported 687,000 metric tonnes of onions valued at RM1.58 billion.
"Of that amount, 38,000 metric tonnes of shallots were imported, valued at RM81.5 million, to meet domestic consumption needs."
Mohamad said the per capita consumption of small shallots for the year 2022 was 1.2 kg/person/year.