Langkawi set to make glutinous rice its signature product

LANGKAWI, April 21 (Bernama) -- In keeping with the Prime Minister’s aspiration of making glutinous rice or ‘pulut’  the signature product of Langkawi, the island is already paving the way to make that dream a reality.

Preparations are already underway to start cultivation of the rice in September, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry secretary-general, Datuk Mohd Sallehhuddin Hassan.

Doing so, will also reduce the country's dependence on imported glutinous rice, he added.

Prime Minister  Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also Langkawi MP, wants to make glutinous rice, the island’s signature product, reiterated Mohd Sallehhuddin, adding that it would be registered as a 'geographical indication' in Langkawi.

"When we speak of Langkawi , we often have images of the ‘gamat’ or sea cucumber. In future, we want glutinous rice to be the signature product  which will be synonymous with Langkawi," he said in his speech at the launch of the ministry’s Kedah state-level Meet the Client Day Programme, today.

Mohd Sallehhuddin said Langkawi had a huge potential of developing and making a success of the project as it  had extensive padi fields that cover over 1092.65 hectares (2,700 acres), supported by seed and irrigation technology that would be carried out out by the Malaysian  Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi).

"The ministry has looked at suitable areas for cultivating the grain. There are several varieties of padi that can be grown in Langkawi such as Pulut Siding, Pulut Hitam 9 and Pulut Sri Malaysia 1,” he said.

“We also want to see how the major producers of glutinous rice such as Thailand and Vietnam cultivate products that are of quality. Through Mardi's technology and research, we believe the quality of local glutinous rice would be superior and be well received,” he said.

--BERNAMA