Malaysia’s Rice Self-sufficiency rate At 62.6 Pct In 2022

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- The self-sufficiency rate (SSR) for the supply of the country’s eight main food commodities in 2022, such as rice was at 62.6 per cent, while vegetables were at 44.7 per cent.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Chan Foong Hin said the SSR for fruits stood at 78.1 per cent, beef (14.7 per cent), chicken and duck meat (94.4 per cent), chicken and duck eggs (108.9 per cent), fresh milk (57.3 per cent) and edible fish (90.2 per cent).

To improve the SSR and enhance food security, he said the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry was focusing on increasing rice productivity through the Large-Scale Smart Padi Field (SMART SBB) programme, including the Mini Sekinchan Model and the five season in two years padi cultivation project.

“The goal of the SMART SBB programme is to increase the country’s SSR for rice to 75 per cent by 2025 and 80 per cent by 2030,” he said during the question and answer session in Dewan Rakyat today.

He was replying to a question from Datuk Mohd Isam Mohd Isa (BN-Tampin) regarding the types of crops and livestock that are being focused on to improve the country’s SSR as an effort to enhance food security and reduce dependence on food imports.

Chan said the ministry also focused on increasing the production of vegetables such as ginger, cabbage and chilli and fruits like coconut.

He said that through the National Agrofood Policy 2.0, the ministry was targeting the SSR for fruits and vegetables to reach 83 per cent and 79 per cent, respectively, by 2030.

As for fisheries output, he said the ministry would strengthen the production of edible fish through aquaculture, targeting an aquaculture-to-capture fisheries production ratio of 60:40.

-- BERNAMA