From Sim Tze Tzin
This is the second part of the letter, Food security: 5 action plans for Malaysia.
Farming used to be seen as backward and unsophisticated. With new farming technology, modern farming is now a high-tech, high-investment business.
Modern farming can apply technology to the entire supply chain. Take vegetable farms as an example.
Modern vegetable farming started from laboratory research to produce quality seeds. After that, farmers invested in modern greenhouses with IoT (internet of things) control of climate and optimisation of fertiliser applications to save costs and prevent wastage.
Modern vegetable farms can also use high-definition cameras to identify pests and release bio-control agents to control them. Harvesting can also be done with modern automation systems. Vegetable plant factories can also be set up in urban areas using LED lighting to replace sunlight.
Modern padi planting can use GPS-guided, unmanned autonomous vehicles to plant padi. Farmers can then use drones to apply fertilisers and pesticides. And use GPS-guided autonomous vehicles to harvest.
These farming technologies are already in the market. In a few years, they will be fully commercialised and will transform the agricultural sector.
Malaysian farmers must quickly change their mindset, embrace change and adopt these technologies in stages.
Technology can transform our agriculture sector into high-yield, high-efficiency modern farming.
It will reduce the cost of production and make our ex-farm prices competitive. With higher yields and a stable supply, we can import less vegetables and rice from abroad. This will improve food security in Malaysia.
Malaysia as a nation exporting farm produce
Malaysia has long been a successful trading nation. We must not look inward into just thinking about self-sufficiency. Malaysia must work towards export-based agriculture. Our objective should be set at producing international quality farm products.
When we set national objectives to be a nation exporting farm produce, then our agricultural policies, education policies and trading policies will change to support the national goals.
We will then focus on the quality of our farm products to meet international standards.
We will intensify our R&D to generate products, based on the needs of importing countries.
We will also refocus our education policies to educate more farming experts and agronomists. Our trade representatives around the world will also focus on finding new markets for our farm products.
Malaysia as an agricultural export nation is not a dream. We have been successful in exporting palm oil to the world. We are currently a big exporter of shrimps to the US and Europe. We are also exporting tomatoes to the Middle East. We are exporting vegetables and poultry to Singapore and Brunei.
By making Malaysia a nation exporting agricultural produce, we can greatly improve the quality and quantity of our farm products. By improving the quality and yields, it will benefit the country in terms of food security and food safety.
Work on Malaysia’s comparative advantages
Food trade across the world started thousands of years ago. There were silk roads as well as the spice trade, from Asia to Europe.
In a globalised world, international food trade will increase by leaps and bounds. Therefore, for Malaysia’s agricultural produce to thrive, we must work on our comparative advantages.
Malaysia has several comparative advantages. Palm oil is one of the best crops that we produce. In terms of food crops, Malaysia’s tropical fruit segment, such as durians, pineapples, poultry farming, fish and shrimp farming are success stories.
We can further work on several emerging sectors, such as modern vegetable farming to reduce our reliance on imports.
In 2021, Malaysia imported RM63 billion worth of food. It was alarming. But, if we improve our agricultural sector, we can greatly reduce our food import bill.
If we further improve our comparative advantages by exporting more high-value agricultural products such as palm oil, fish, poultry, durians and pineapples, we can improve the balance of trade and even make food trade a surplus.
Attracting agricultural talents and investments
Just like any other business, agriculture needs talent and investment. The major challenges in agriculture are the longer returns on investment and the lack of talent in the sector.
For example, investment in durian farms is big, but they will only start bearing fruit after seven years. Malaysian universities hardly produce graduates in agriculture. Without passionate farmers and experts, farms will fail.
To attract talent and investment, governments must incentivise investments. When farmers see potential profits, they will invest and this will draw new farmers into the sector.
To be fair, the government is currently giving tax-free incentives for agriculture investments for 10 years. However, the application process is long and complicated.
Most farming companies complain that they fail to get the tax exemption status.
The finance ministry does not have enough expertise to evaluate investments in agriculture.
They are currently focusing on big investments, while the vast majority of small farmers can hardly get tax incentives.
I urge the ministry to seriously reform the current tax exemption application process and system. It must be made easy for farmers who are often not sophisticated enough to apply for complicated tax exemptions. When more farmers make money from agriculture, they will produce more.
In conclusion, the government that is formed after the upcoming 15th general election must have the vision and mission to tackle food security.
I had the honour of being a deputy agriculture minister, a stint that afforded me an understanding of our food security challenges.
It is not a dream to improve food security in Malaysia. It can be done. But we need a vision, the right policy and the right implementation to get there. - FMT
Sim Tze Tzin is Bayan Baru MP and a former deputy agriculture minister.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
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