States urged to gazette rice paddies as self-sufficiency ratio falls

The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (KPKM) urged state governments to gazette padi-growing areas after the rice self-sufficiency ratio fell to 54.3% in 2025, down from 68% in 2018. The proposal was debated at the second 2026 Agriculture and Food Security Ministers’ Meeting, chaired by Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu and attended by agriculture executive councillors from nine states, Economic Planning Units, and the Finance and Economy ministries.

KPKM noted that Malaysia imported 1.416 million metric tonnes of rice in 2025, worth RM2.953 billion. The meeting also outlined zoning of food-producing lands under the National Land Use Master Plan and the immediate gazetting of 24 state agro-food zones, including Permanent Food Production Parks, Permanent Ruminant Production Parks and Aquaculture Industry Zones, plus farm regularisation schemes in Sabah and Sarawak. Officials discussed promoting Malaysian agro-food products at Malaysia Fest in Singapore, which has grown in attendance and sales. The session reviewed progress on the National Agro-Food Empowerment Programme and the Land Optimisation Programme, and mentioned a draft Fertiliser Bill to improve regulation of quality, distribution and price stability.