Experts: Govt diet won't solve lack of business appetite for local rice

 

At the start of this month, the government moved to boost the supply of local rice for the public by putting government institutions on an imported rice diet.

However, experts say the problem isn’t that local rice is in short supply, but that businesses don’t want to sell local rice because it’s not profitable.

Majlis Perundingan Melayu food security cluster head Syed Zikri Shahabudin told Malaysiakini that local white rice is often packed together with imported rice.

It is a practice that he first saw around 2008, just two years after the price control for local rice was introduced.

“They (importers) import through Bernas and they mix (with local rice).

“It has been done for a long time now,” he said.

A survey by Malaysiakini this month found that local white rice is present in markets but supply is not enough to meet demand.

Employees of several large supermarkets said that local white rice is often sold out quickly.

Before that, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said the country’s physical stock of rice reached over one million metric tonnes including 290 thousand metric tonnes of buffer stock.

Mohamad said that the distribution of local white rice is actively being carried out along with a price reduction of between RM2 and RM3 for 10kg packs.

‘Mathematically impossible’

Meanwhile, Syed Zikri explained that the issue is mainly with the low ceiling price of local rice. It has become bad business to sell it considering increasing costs.

Farmers, rice millers, wholesalers, and rice importers all want to make money but consumers want a fair price too, he added.

“Now, it is a paradox. Do you want to help the farmers or do you want to help consumers?

“You want low prices for the consumers but you want high prices for the farmers? How do you do that?

“Mathematically, it’s not possible. And it can only be done if the government comes up with the money,” he said.

To him, a fair price is something like RM32 for 10kg of local rice.

Similarly, Forum Kedaulatan Makanan Malaysia coordinator Fitri Amir said pricing issues must be resolved to overcome the lack of local rice supply in markets.

He cautioned against making the issue about the supply of local rice instead of its price.

“This is a pricing issue because the private sector will certainly try to find any loophole to generate more profit,” Fitri said.

The ceiling price has been in place for 18 years and has never been updated, which means it is not a relevant price, he added.

He echoed Syed Zikri in saying that local rice is often packed together with imported rice due to the lack of profit in selling local rice by itself.

If the pricing problem cannot be solved, he suggested that enforcement must be increased instead.

“I believe that only with enforcement can local rice be available in the market.

“This means that the authorities that regulate rice have to increase the number of officials to go to factories, wholesalers, and packers,” he said.

Low income, rising costs

Kedah farmer Abdul Rashid Yob told Malaysiakini that farmers only earn around RM400 to RM600 a month.

Rashid, who comes from a family of farmers, had given up his job as a technician in Penang to return home and work in the paddy fields.

“I’m quite worried because while the income of farmers is low, our costs are increasing,” he said.

Rashid was referring to the increasing prices of seeds and fertilisers, among other necessary expenditures.

Meanwhile, Syed Zikri said that farmers are the most important part of the equation but have always been on the losing end.

Farmers only earn around RM300 a month per hectare, he explained.

“What is that? You can’t survive on that,” he said.

“To me, a decent farm-level income should be RM2,000 per month if you want somebody to go full-time,” he added. - Mkini