JOHOR BARU: Over 600 tonnes of coconuts are being imported into Malaysia from Indonesia on a monthly basis, says the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).
Fama Deputy Director General (Food Security and Operation) Shahrizan Sudiman, said that they have been sourcing coconuts from Indonesia to meet local demand.
“We are currently importing 640 metric tonnes of coconuts from Indonesia monthly. This Thursday (Feb 20), we expect coconuts from Sabah and Sarawak for Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
“Fama has devised a contingency plan to address the coconut shortage, supplying these coconuts to our operation centres throughout Peninsular Malaysia,” added Shahrizan.
Shahrizan said this during the state-level Pasar Tani 40th-anniversary event at the Pasar Tani Permas Jaya permanent site on Sunday (Feb 16).
He said that the country has faced a coconut supply shortage since July last year due to local production issues, particularly affecting the availability of young coconuts.
“The whole country is experiencing this issue, and it is quite critical in Kelantan and nearby east coast states where coconut usage is much higher compared to other states."
“With the intervention measures we have taken, Fama assures that the coconut supply here is sufficient,” he said, adding that they are also working with local coconut suppliers to ensure market availability.
