State governments urged to gazette paddy land as rice self‑sufficiency drops to 54.3pc
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 2 — State governments have been urged to gazette paddy-growing areas to sustain rice cultivation an...
The second 2026 Agriculture and Food Security Ministers' Meeting has urged state governments to gazette paddy-growing areas to address the decline in rice self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) from 68% in 2018 to 54.3% in 2025. The meeting, chaired by Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, discussed various measures to strengthen the country's food security, such as the immediate gazetting of 24 state agro-food areas under the Permanent Food Production Parks, Permanent Ruminant Production Parks, and Aquaculture Industry Zones.
Additionally, the meeting reviewed the National Agro-Food Empowerment Programme under the 13th Malaysia Plan, approved 347 projects worth RM349.15 million out of 782 applications. The meeting also acknowledged the findings of the 2024 Outcome Evaluation Study of the Land Optimisation Programme, involving 97 projects, 19,447 participants, and RM149.59 million in funding.
Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
