Dr. Ronald Kiandee, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) led an inspection visit to the country’s rice buffer stockpile today in Telipok, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. His entourage included YB Datuk Dr. Jeffrey G. Kitingan, Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Sabah and Encik Azman Bin Mahmood, Director General of Paddy and Rice Regulation, MAFI.
This visit is in line with the terms of the Concession Agreement between the Government of Malaysia and Syarikat Padiberas Nasional Berhad (BERNAS) to ensure that the country’s rice stockpile is sufficient and in good condition at all times. Periodic inspection visits have been made from time to time at all 31 stockpile storage locations of rice stockpile warehouses nationwide in the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak respectively.
According to Dr Ronald, as agreed in the Concession Agreement, the country’s total rice stockpile will also be increased to 290,000 metric tonnes in stages by 2023. The additional cost of the country’s rice stockpile of RM250 million will be fully borne by BERNAS.
The Concession Agreement signed in December 2020 has set 10 social obligations to BERNAS which will be monitored and evaluated annually by the Government. One of the key social obligations is to preserve, maintain and manage the country’s rice stockpile in compliance with all safety guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as prescribed by the Government.
By the end of this year, BERNAS will increase the country’s total rice stockpile holdings from 150,000 tonnes to 200,000 tonnes.
The performance of the management and storage of the national rice stockpile implemented by BERNAS so far has met the Key Performance Index (KPI) of social obligations set by the Government.
The annual requirement of rice for Malaysians is 2.5 million metric tonnes while the country’s rice production is around 70% of that requirement. Therefore, the country still imports about 700,000 to 900,000 metric tonnes of rice annually to cover the shortage of rice production in the country and meet the demand for premium and specialty rice.
The operation of the local paddy and rice industry is unaffected even though the country is currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has placed agricultural activities including paddy cultivation activities as essential services to ensure that the country’s food supply is always sufficient and available.
The National Agro-Food Policy 2021-2030 (DAN 2.0) which will be launched soon will include several key strategies to uplift the country’s paddy and rice industry as well as farmers’ income. The main goal of DAN 2.0 is to raise the self-sufficiency level (SSL) of rice to 80% during the implementation period from 2021-2030. The increase in the country’s paddy productivity will help ensure the sustainability of the country’s paddy and rice supply as well as ensure the country’s food security for the long term.
