MALAYSIA imports 30 per cent of its rice needs, a staple diet of the country's 33 million people. If Malaysia is to take food security seriously, it must tackle this problem by growing all the rice it needs. Added to this is the danger of rice-producing countries imposing export bans.
India recently announced a rice export ban spurred by low rice production due to monsoon-related factors. Malaysia may not be immediately affected because most of the 30 per cent in rice import comes from Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan.
But when low production hits the three countries, a rice export ban is a likely consequence. Thailand did once ban rice export to Malaysia under its rice self-sufficiency policy. Under such circumstances, if Thailand and Vietnam continue to export but at a lower tonnage, Malaysia's import bill will be very costly.
So will the expenditure of Malaysians. According to a study by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) in 2019, on average a Malaysian household spent RM44 per month on rice, with each person consuming 80kg per year. This bill will double if rice-producing countries begin restricting exports.
The prime minister did suggest the growing of a five-season padi variety as a solution. This must be hastened. The five-season variety has long been a success story in Sekinchan, Selangor.
Why this has not been replicated throughout the rice-producing states is a mystery, though parliamentary records indicate such a move was undertaken in February 2021.
Sekinchan's five-season rice fields produce 11 tonnes per hectare while the rest of the country averages five tonnes per hectare. Some in Pahang yield as low as three tonnes per hectare. This alone is motivation enough to go nationwide with the five-season padi variety.
On Wednesday, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu told the media that such a variety was planted in 213ha of padi fields under the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada), while the Sekinchan-style rice-growing technique had been implemented in 187ha of padi fields in Sik and Kerpan in Kedah, Simpang Empat in Perlis and Besut in Terengganu.
If all goes well with this experiment, Malaysia will be able to achieve 80 per cent of domestic demand. Eighty per cent after six years is surely a slow drive to self-sufficiency in rice production.
If one reads Mohamad right, one of the reasons for the slow drive is resistance by padi farmers. If this is indeed true, the ministry must seek to understand their problems before venturing to educate them. If farmers see the benefit of the Sekinchan-style rice farming technique, they will surely not resist. Infrastructure issues such as irrigation systems are also hampering the adoption of modern rice-farming techniques. Add to this problems posed by non-organic fertilisers.
Again Sekinchan is showing the way where many padi farmers are using organic fertilisers. This is one important contributor to the high rice yield in Sekinchan. Malaysia's rice-planting area is about 700,000ha, the smallest in Southeast Asia. According to the KRI study, only 195,000 farmers engage in rice production.
This must change. One way to do this is to increase the rice-planting area by at least 300,000ha. This is not impossible. The other is by implementing saltwater rice farming. On May 28, Mohamad said such a technique implemented in China was being explored.
Malaysia can reach self-sufficiency level in rice production, meaning zero imports. But proper irrigation infrastructure and good farming practices must come first.