Rice Crisis In Malaysia: What’s The Story?
This crisis began when India implemented the non-basmati rice ban last July.
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The increase in prices of goods is a topic that is hotly debated every year. Most recently, rice has been making headlines. Many flocked to buy locally-produced rice because of the price gap between local rice and imported rice.
So why the price difference?
Political party Muda attributed this problem to India banning the export of non-basmati white rice since July. This caused a major impact to the global market with India being the largest contributor to the export of rice at 40%.
Malaysia is affected because we depend heavily on imported rice.
With India’s export ban, the price of rice in the global market saw a significant jump, causing consumers here to start purchasing local rice.
According to an article from Nikkei Asia, Padiberas Nasional (Bernas), a Malaysian corporation that manages rice distribution, increased the retail price of imported rice by 36% on 1 September to reflect recent worldwide price increases. This led to a sharp increase in demand for less expensive local rice, which resulted in the price disparity widening considerably.
The problem worsens when only 70% of the local demand can be met with locally produced rice. The price of imported rice is currently RM30 to RM70 for 10 kg.
Titiwangsa MP Datuk Seri Johari Ghani had said that in order to meet the full demand, Malaysia must import 37.4% of its rice.
“Before, our rice farmers were able to produce 71% of the total demand, but now it is 62.6%. The government relies on rice imports to supply the rest (37.4% of demand),” he stated as reported by The Edge.
To add fuel to the fire, a few unscrupulous producers allegedly refused to process the white rice that is grown locally as they do not want to bear the losses.
The narrow profit margin (between 30 and 50 cents), according to traders, made them hesitant to sell local rice. As a result, shops and suppliers refuse to sell local white rice, which is one of the causes of Malaysia’s local white rice scarcity.
Solution
The government is conducting initiatives in large-scale paddy fields in numerous states to improve output to an average of 7 tonnes per hectare from 5 tonnes per hectare, according to Chan Foong Hin, deputy minister of agriculture and food security.
“The government has introduced a new initiative to increase paddy production and incomes for paddy farmers, with paddy plantations in five seasons in two years, to increase its yield to achieve the self-sufficiency rate for national rice at 80% by 2030,” Chan said.
In addition, the government intends to conduct research and produce new paddy seedlings that are resistant to bad weather and illnesses and may be harvested in 75 days.
Meanwhile, a Twitter user known as Shahrizal Denci shared how Pasona Inc., a Japanese company has planted rice in the office building with lights that act as the artificial sun.
Bermula dari kecil, try n error, terus jadi besar. Biar langkah kecil, tapi cita-cita besar. Wahai marhaen! Kita mesti sedar, yang kita bukan elitis yang senang2 dapat surat sokongan. pic.twitter.com/I8FcaalxvJ
— Shahrizal Denci 🇲🇾 (@DenciShahrizal) August 24, 2020
“They choose quality seeds, planted in controlled environments. It produces the maximum output that can be consumed by all staff,” he stated in his tweet.
There are many options to be investigated and researched to tackle the rice crisis in Malaysia.
While it is not a problem that can be solved overnight, steps must be taken to ensure solutions are found soon.
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