KUALA LUMPUR: The rubber land consolidation programme on 420,000 hectares of abandoned or untapped land has the potential to generate around 585,000 metric tonnes of natural rubber each year.
In a written parliamentary reply, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said the ministry is developing a programme to consolidate and rehabilitate rubber land to boost rubber production and meet local demands.
"This programme will be implemented in collaboration with agencies such as the Malaysian Rubber Board, Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority, Federal Land Development Authority, Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority and state-owned plantations among others.
"The implementation of this consolidation programme is expected to reliably boost domestic natural rubber production to approximately 585,000 metric tonnes annually, subsequently decrease imports of natural rubber, and sustain this sector as a vital component of the national economy," he said in response to Pang Hok Liong (PH-Labis).
Pang asked about the ministry's plan to address the continued decline of the rubber industry due to falling rubber prices and a significant reduction in natural rubber hectarage, as major plantation companies exit the industry in favour of more profitable oil palm cultivation.
Johari said the land consolidation programme is part of measures to ensure the ongoing practice of rubber cultivation.
Other measures include the Rubber Production Incentive (IPG), Latex Production Incentive, the National Rubber Industry Transformation Programme, Rubber Technology Adaptation Programme RRIM Hydrobest and Control of Pestalotiopsis Leaf Blight Disease.
Johari said the IPG, for instance, aims to encourage smallholders to keep tapping and enhance the country's rubber production.
"During the tabling of the 2024 Budget in October last year, the IPG activation price level was raised to RM3 per kilogramme with an allocation of RM400 million.
"As of December (last year), the IPG benefited 225,249 smallholders, with total payments amounting to RM508.74 million," he said, adding that the IPG programme has been in effect since September 2015.
Johari said the ministry acknowledged the current state and position of the rubber sector, which is experiencing a decline at the upstream or production level.
Malaysia is currently the eighth-largest natural rubber producer in the world and a net importer of natural rubber.
Last year, Malaysia imported 1.002 million tonnes of natural rubber valued at RM5.73 billion to meet the needs of the local processing and manufacturing sectors.
In terms of exports, this sector recorded an average growth of 5.8 per cent from 1990 to 2023, contributing RM27.8 billion to the country's export revenue.