KUALA LUMPUR: To improve the quality of life of the people, the government is determined to ensure the empowerment of the people, raise the standard of social life and ensure access to basic needs such as affordable food, housing and health, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Realising that the country’s high dependence on imported food sources could be a threat if supplies were disrupted, Anwar said that to reduce this risk, the production of domestic food products would be stepped up.
“Special focus is given to developing large-scale agriculture in Kelantan, Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak,” he said when tabling the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) 2026-2030 at the Dewan Rakyat here.
According to him, the implementation of the five-season padi planting programme within two years in the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) areas in Kedah and Perlis, as well as the Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (KADA) in Kelantan will be accelerated and expanded, including integrated agricultural development areas in Selangor, Perak, Penang and Sarawak.
In addition, Anwar said research, development, commercialisation and innovation (RDCI) activities, smart agriculture adaptation and satellite farms would continue to be intensified through close collaboration between farmers including young agropreneurs, research institutions and industry.
At the same time, Anwar said the country’s food import sources would be diversified to reduce dependence on certain countries, while regulations on food entry into the country would be tightened to ensure safety and quality.
“To improve the overall food supply chain, the efficiency of the infrastructure of collection, processing, grading and distribution centres as well as the small and medium-scale retail sectors would be strengthened,” he said.
Anwar also stressed the need to change the public’s perception of the agricultural sector which is often considered as mere subsistence activity.
“The people’s minds must be changed from seeing agriculture as just another subsistence activity to a very profitable economic opportunity. All these efforts will increase the value-added contribution of the agro-food sub-sector to reach RM58 billion by 2030,” he said. – BERNAMA
