Securing our supply of essential foods

WE can only buy 100kg of local white rice per customer or company since yesterday.

The government implemented the purchase limit to ensure equitable distribution of this staple food and alleviate concerns about potential shortages.

Talk of grocery stores experiencing shortages of local rice has added to consumers’ worries about the country running out of rice.

The Federal Government spends more than RM1.8bil a year through various subsidies to ensure that Malaysians can buy local white rice at RM2.60 per kilo.

This became crucial when the price of imported white rice increased by 36% to RM3,200 from RM2,350 a tonne on Sept 1.

This means it now costs us 85sen more for a kilogramme of imported white rice.

The increase in price triggered panic buying of imported white rice in some parts of the country, in turn causing a shortage in local white rice.

Restaurant owners have already warned that they are considering raising the price of their rice dishes due to the hike in the cost of imported rice.

They explained that they have to pass the extra cost on to their customers.

Bernas (Padiberas Nasional Bhd), which oversees all aspects of padi cultivation and the wholesaling and retailing of local rice as well as the importation of rice from abroad, said the price adjustment of imported rice is in line with current global pricing.

“Bernas faced a challenging first half of the year due to unpredictable factors such as the effects of climate change, weakening of the foreign currency exchange rate, high operating costs, and conflicts in the region,” it said.

The ban on exports by India, the world’s largest rice exporter, to ensure there is enough rice for its domestic consumption, compounded the issue.

The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry introduced the Local White Rice Special Programme on Wednesday to ensure local white rice production would recover within a month.

It is a short-term measure under which padi millers and rice wholesalers are being asked to increase supply by 20%.

The government’s middle-term and long-term approaches involve increasing Malaysia’s rice production output to 11 tonnes per hectare, which would be three times the usual production level, and to upgrade padi field watering systems.

The short-term measures are certainly of immediate help to the rakyat, but apart from increasing padi output in the long term, the government must look ahead to securing supply of other staples to ensure our food security.

After all, the climate crisis is only going to get worse as the world drags its feet over letting go of the fossil fuels that are warming the planet and causing the unpredictable weather affecting agricultural production.

And with drought expected to increase worldwide due to forest cover loss and desertification, as well as the increasing salinity of underground water sources, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, future conflicts over water would not be far-fetched.

We must begin thinking long-term now to secure food and water sources for this nation’s future generations.