Dr Rundi. — Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (July 13): The proposal for Sarawak to have its own rice board will be brought up to the state cabinet, said Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
According to him, the tasks of administering and managing rice development in Sarawak are currently under his ministry.
“The proposed board is meant to function as an agency to administer and manage rice development in Sarawak, and also to help accelerate the self-sufficiency level (SSL).
“The idea of having this new agency will be brought up to the next state cabinet meeting,” he said when met at his office in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex here yesterday.
Dr Rundi, who is Kemena assemblyman, said the SSL for rice in Sarawak was at 38 per cent for now.
“To reduce import, Sarawak would have to improve the rate to at least 60 per cent by 2030. Currently, among the steady rice importers are Vietnam and Thailand.
“However Sarawak is also an exporter of several types of rice, meant for the higher-end markets,” he added.
In his ministerial winding-up speech at the DUN sitting on May 25 this year, Dr Rundi said based on the current rice production, Sarawak could only meet 38 per cent of the state’s rice requirement.
He said the low rice SSL had impacted the current food security in Sarawak, and that the state had to import 145,468 metric tonnes of rice in 2021, valued at RM387 million.
The total hectareage of paddy plantation in Sarawak had decreased quite significantly, from around 130,000 hectares in 2012 to about 83,000 hectares in 2021.
Consequently, rice production had also reduced from 142,000 metric tonnes in 2012, to only 89,400 metric tonnes in 2021, Dr Rundi told the DUN then.
He had also pointed out that in order to attain the SSL of 60 per cent for rice in Sarawak by 2030, his ministry had outlined six key initiatives to boost rice production.
These, he said, would include rehabilitating and upgrading the infrastructures at 14 existing drainage and irrigation schemes throughout Sarawak involving 2,829 hectares, as well as developing new areas for cultivation.