KUCHING: Sarawak can be a rice bowl of Malaysia if more land is opened up with modern form of agriculture introduced which includes the contribution of the private sector.
A new variety of rice which yields more grains and is prevalent in the rice producing state of the peninsula like Kedah and Perlis should be introduced to increase productivity.
This is the opinion of businessman and agriculture scientist Yong Hua Ying who encouraged the state to attain sufficiency in rice as it is the staple of the people in the country.
With the current shortage and rise in the price of rice all over the world, it may reach critical shortage and continual rise in price of the commodity can affect the country.
“We find shortages in the country and price increase and the situation can be critical.
“Already the food stalls are increasing the price of one bowl of rice from RM1.30 to RM1.50.
“So the main step to be taken for Sarawak is to urgently open up more lands as we have plenty of arable land such as peat loam or alluvial soil while the government has identified areas in Serian, Lingga, Lundu to revive the abandoned paddy planting projects.
“The main criteria is that we need high management skills to produce high yield to prevent land from being abandoned which we find in Sarawak. So it is imperative that we invite and allow the private companies with the expertise and finance to come in and work on a joint-venture.
“Sarawak as the rice bowl, yes for it has large pieces of land say in Serian, Lubok Antu areas and all over Sarawak with the arable land but we lack resolve to do it.
“Why peninsula states like Kedah are producing more rice as they have a better variety of stalk that yield more grains.
“We’ve to allow to import the new variety, a longer panicle which can produce more grains as the stalk is longer.
“More land should be gazetted while it is better to allow privatisation with more private companies by relaxing the restrictions and also to issue more milling licences.
Yong, who had recently visited great agricultural countries in Europe and Xinjiang in China to study the modern methods, said in countries like France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland he was impressed by the agriculture sector in those countries.
He said in those European countries one third is for agriculture, one third for forestry and animal husbandry such as for rearing farm animals.
The land gazetted for agriculture cannot be converted or taken away for urban development.
He said in Xinjiang, China where he spent 13 days, agriculture was very developed with the people doing well, adding they developed the grassland and desert where they grow sorghum, sunflower seeds, millet in the desert and also plant fodder crop.
He said that the government was going on the right step by encouraging the young people to go into farming and agency like Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) could also help train them.
The businessman praised the government in encouraging the young people to be agroprenuers which augers well for the future of Sarawak which is basically an agrarian society, especially in the rural areas.
He said there had been conscious efforts to help local rice production with talks on self-sufficiency in food production organised by the Swinburne University but so far no action had been taken.
“The situation is critical as we may face a situation where there is no food and rice is our staple and unless the steps are taken there will be self-sufficiency in our food production to improve our economy,” he added.
