Tuesday 2 October 2012

NO FOOD SECURITY IN SABAH





Sabah DAP Vice Chairman Edward Ewol Mujie viewed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when presenting the Budget 2013 last Friday that four new paddy granaries will be developed and expanded in Kota Belud (sabah), Balang Lupar (Sarawak), Rompin and Pekan (Pahang) with an allocation of RM140 million.

He has however did not taken into account the real need in Sabah, and this is very perplexing as Kota Belud has implemented this project a few years backs, but sorry to say that it did not produce the anticipated result. What is the increase in the rice production?

In Sabah there are lots of other districts that has vast areas of abandons paddy fields and land suitable for paddy planting such as Papar, Tuaran, Terusan Sapi, Kota Marudu and Kuala Penyu, and why can’t this new project of paddy granaries be implemented in these districts. 

These paddy fields have been producing few thousands metric tons of paddy for decades, but due to many reasons like the lack of good drainage and irrigation system, these paddy fields have been abandoned and left lying idles for many years.  So it is high time that the Government should take the necessary steps to re-develop them through this incentive scheme as announced by the Prime Minister.

But sadly Edward said this is not the case but Kota Belud again has been chosen to implement this project.  However he said he would like to know whether the paddy granaries project that has been implemented earlier in Kota Belud has been completed and whether the paddy production so far increased.

In Sabah, we import RM1.0 billion of rice and that is equal to 70% (205,000 tonnes) of our rice requirements in Sabah. It is absolutely a total failure on the part of the government for not really emphasizing on achieving the simple task of producing enough rice in the state.

In real fact, during the past 5 decades, the government had failed miserablly, and the amount used to develop the rice planting is marginal. What can the RM140 million do, while Sabah might be getting a small share only. We actually need much more than RM240 million to speed up the rice production and to secure food security in rice. Just imagine if the import and supply of rice to Sabah is cut, how can we feed the 3.4 million population? Are we going back to eat tapioca?

The government is not seen to be solving the most basic and fundamental requirements of food supply. If we had done that many decades ago, we should be having enough food by now, even more for export to West Malaysia.

20 comments:

  1. Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Datuk Seri Noh Omar is confident that the government can achieve its desire to turn Kota Belud into the 'rice bowl' of Sabah.

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    1. Kota Belud will be the district to produce the rice for Sabah. Hope this plan will success as soon as possible. Govt already plan the best for the future of Kota Belud.

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  2. His ministry planned to upgrade the irrigation system in the Kota Belud area, including building Tombotuan Dam in Kadamaian, about 30 kilometre from here.

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  3. Kota Belud currently has 10,000 hectares (ha) under paddy cultivation, of which 4,000ha are grown twice a year, another 4,000ha once a year while the remaining land has not been developed yet.

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  4. the intention to make Kota Belud into a "rice bowl" will be implemented in stages, of which the first phase involved upgrading the irrigation infrastructure with an allocation of RM67 million.

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  5. Feedback from residents in the region will be taken into consideration before the dam project can be implemented.

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  6. Dewan Perniagaan Bumiputera Sabah (SBCC) kini menimbangkan untuk menggalakkan ahli-ahlinya menceburi pengeluaran beras di negeri itu. Bendaharinya, Roselan Johar Mohamed berkata wawasan itu akan dibentangkan pada mesyuarat majlis tertingginya bulan ini bagi mendapatkan kelulusan dan tindakan lanjut.

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    1. Berikutan wawasan itu, Presidennya Datuk Hasnol Ayub telah menghantar dua wakilnya ke Manila dan mendapatkan maklumat lanjut mengenai pengeluaran beras hibrid.

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    2. "Minat itu adalah berikutan keinginan untuk membantu negeri ini mengeluarkan beras mencukupi bagi diri sendiri yang hanya boleh dicapai melalui peningkatan produktiviti dan keuntungan pengeluaran beras mengikut pendekatan mampan dan kompetitif," kata Roselan, yang kini berada di jelapang padi Filipina di tengah Luzon.

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    3. Dalam temu bual emel dengan Bernama, Roselan berkata, pengeluaran adalah antara 1.8 tan metrik dan 2.0 tan metrik setiap 0.4 hektar (ha) dengan menggunakan kaedah pengeluaran beras hibrid Filipina dan diharapkan pengeluaran itu ditingkatkan kepada 5.0 tan metrik setiap 0.4 ha di negeri Sabah.

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    4. "Kesemua minat itu akan diselaraskan dengan Jabatan Pertanian yang merupakan pihak berkuasa relevan bagi meluluskan pengimportan benih hibrid sebelum boleh diketengahkan bagi pengeluaran komersil secara besar-besaran," katanya.

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  7. Roselan berkata beliau tertarik dengan pendekatan berdisiplin SL AGRITECH, yang merupakan pihak yang mempromosikan beras hibrid di Filipina serta berkongsi dapatan dengan negara-negara Asia bagi manfaat kemanusiaan.

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    1. "Malah, peneraju pengeluaran beras di dunia, Thailand, menggunakan spesi ini. Jiran kita, Sarawak telah ke hadapan selepas memulakan ujian. Tetapi, kita masih belum menerima dapatannya," kata Roselan, yang juga Pengerusi Majlis Perniagaan BIMP-EAGA Malaysia.

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  8. Roselan berkata pihaknya berharap perubahan minat ini akan mempengaruhi para pembuat dasar untuk menyediakan bajet lebih besar kepada Kementerian Pertanian bagi memperbaiki terusan pengairan sedia ada serta penggunaan jentera di dalam proses penuaian, kaedah pengeringan dan pengilangan.

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    1. "Tanpa sokongan kerajaan terhadap kesemua proses ini, kebaikan beras hibrid akan terhenti begitu sahaja," katanya.

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  9. Universiti Malaysia Sabah and its partners have been urged to continue focusing on nutrition within the overall food production and food security debate, in assisting the Government ensure every Malaysian, especially children, have access to nutritious and quality food.

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    1. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, said this is vital in achieving the objective of creating a society that is healthy, knowledgeable and able to contribute to Malaysia's growth.

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    2. CM during officiated the International Conference on Food Science and Nutrition 2012 said, the Government wants to ensure that every citizen, especially our children, has access to nutritious and quality food in order to create a society that is healthy, knowledgeable and able to contribute to Malaysia's growth.

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    3. CM said Sabah has tremendous potential in not just its people but also the sustainable use of natural resources, including wild edible food items, most of which are still unknown to science, the State Government in partnership with the Federal Government through the various agencies has been involved in various relevant and timely development programmes aimed at improving livelihoods.

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    4. CM hoped there would be more scientific discoveries and innovations including in the biotechnology sector to improve crop yields and enhance the food sector, application of biotechnology technologies such as genetic engineering and functional genomics must be encouraged to produce agro-biotechnology products that increase plant and livestock productivity as well as improve their agronomic traits.

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