THE Sarawak Rice and Paddy Production Policy will be reviewed to facilitate the development of the paddy and rice industry, said Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
The Minister of Food Industry, Commodity, and Regional Development revealed that the self-sufficiency level (SSL) for rice stood at 34 per cent compared to 42 per cent in 2020, thus efforts must be made to revive the paddy industry to avoid further decline.
He said the decline in rice production over the years was mainly due to the lack of paddy tertiary farm infrastructure, high cost of production, aging farmers, and stiff competition for land from other lucrative crops.
“My ministry will continue to strengthen the paddy and rice industry through key strategies and initiatives towards achieving the targeted SSL of 60 per cent by 2030,” he said.
He said this in his ministerial winding-up speech during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting on today (May 23).
To improve the production capacity of the paddy areas, Dr Rundi said his ministry through the Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID) Sarawak is actively developing and improving agricultural infrastructure in predominantly paddy cultivated areas such as Tanjung Purun and Kampung Pueh at Lundu.
He said the Department of Agriculture Sarawak is rehabilitating the paddy area in Leboh, Serian whereas his ministry will develop the drainage and irrigation infrastructure in three new areas namely Kampung Mujat, Serian as well as Selepong-Panggil and Issu-Gayau in Sri Aman.
“Meanwhile, the proposed rehabilitation of 500 hectares at DID’s Mid-Sadong I Scheme at a cost of RM30 million is at the planning stage and about 100 hectares at Kampung Lubok Punggor will be dedicated for the cultivation of specialty rice called Biris,” he said.
On the efforts of promoting mechanisation and automation, Dr Rundi said his ministry has also taken various initiatives including intensifying the adoption of farm mechanisation services.
However, the mechanisation and automation services are limited to paddy cultivation areas with tertiary drainage and irrigation infrastructure.
“As such, the efforts to intensify the mechanisation and automation services in paddy farming can only be done provided that more paddy areas are developed with tertiary infrastructure,” he said.
At the same time, Dr Rundi said paddy planters have been urged to replace or complement the traditional paddy varieties with high-yielding varieties.
“In this regard, the Department of Agriculture Sarawak has developed a designated 45-hectare seed farm at Stumbin, Sri Aman with tertiary irrigation and the department distributed 40 metric tonnes of quality paddy seeds to farmers last year,” he said.
He also said his ministry is currently negotiating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to review the rate of Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) for Sarawak to be at par with Peninsular Malaysia.
“Last year, the Department of Agriculture Sarawak assisted around 45,000 farmers with input incentives that aimed at lessening farmers’ burden in paddy production while the output incentive is to motivate farmers to improve their production and productivity,” he said.
Dr Rundi said his ministry will propose to gazette land specifically for paddy cultivation to ensure that land for paddy cultivation does not lose out to other crops and also to promote large-scale paddy cultivation.
