M'sia aims for 80% rice self-sufficiency by 2030, says Mat Sabu

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia plans to achieve 80% self-sufficiency in terms of white rice production by 2030, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu told the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Feb 29).

"The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry targets to produce 2,030,846 metric tonnes of white rice this year, 2,006,803 metric tonnes in 2025, 2,119,389 metric tonnes in 2026, 2,171,757 metric tonnes in 2027 and 2,224,229 metric tonnes in 2028.

"The target is to achieve a self-sufficiency rate of 75% by next year and 80% by 2030," the Agriculture and Food Security Minister said in a written reply to a question raised by Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng (BN-Tanjung Piai) in Parliament on Thursday.

Wee wanted to know the production of locally grown white rice and its production target over the next five years.

To a separate question by Hassan Abdul Karim (PH-Pasir Gudang), Mohamad said that his ministry is working with the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) to determine if cartels were responsible for the recent shortage of locally produced white rice in the market.

"The ministry will cooperate with MYCC until the investigations are completed," he added.

Mohamad acknowledged there was a shortage of local white rice, which was due to several external and domestic factors, including lower production yield.

He also said there was also high demand for local white rice, which is used by several sectors, including the government and as tithe payments.

"Local white rice self-sufficiency is at 62.6%, and presently, rice production in the country is insufficient to meet local demand," he said.