LETTER: ACCORDING to the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, Malaysia produced enough rice to meet just 54.3 per cent of domestic requirements in 2025, down from 68 per cent in 2018.
Shrinking cultivation areas, unpredictable weather and rising costs complicate Malaysia's ambitions.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation forecasts 2026 padi production at 2.1 million tonnes, 4.5 per cent below the five-year average, following flooding and dry weather.
El Niño, expected to persist into early 2027, could add further pressure. The 2027 Budget allocates RM2.62 billion in subsidies and incentives for padi farmers.
That support matters, but spending more does not automatically mean producing more.
Malaysia is not without protection. In August 2026, the government reported 1.237 million tonnes of rice stocks, enough for at least six months.
Of that amount, 200,000 tonnes formed the national buffer stock, with the remainder held commercially.
The question is not whether Malaysia should stop importing rice. Producing everything locally may be neither practical nor affordable.
It is whether domestic production, imports and reserves together can protect households and farmers when conditions change.
Malaysia should judge rice security by three outcomes, because they do not always move in the same direction.
First, availability. How much demand can local production meet, and how many months of usable reserves does the country hold?
The reported figures are 54.3 per cent self-sufficiency and at least six months of stocks, although only part of those stocks is held in the national buffer.
Second, affordability. By late 2025, imported rice prices had eased, while the ministry reported that consumer uptake of local white rice remained at only 10 to 15 per cent.
But lower prices do not necessarily mean every household can afford rice, and the disruption in 2023 showed how quickly conditions can change.
Third, farmer livelihoods. The Auditor-General's 2022 report found that nearly a quarter of the 77,275 padi farmers whose 2021 records were analysed had average gross monthly incomes below RM600.
The audit also examined 2030 income targets of RM3,500 a month in granary areas and RM2,500 elsewhere.
Cheaper imports can protect households while putting pressure on farmers. Subsidies can improve farm incomes without increasing yields.
Large reserves can conceal weaknesses in domestic production.
The government should therefore publish these three measures together every year, alongside the agricultural budget.
Food security is not simply about producing enough.
It is about whether rice remains available, is affordable and worth growing for the people who cultivate it.
JL LERIT
Sydney, Australia
*The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
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