HISTORY OF RICE PRODUCTION IN MALAYSIA (PART 2)

Paddy (Oryza sativa) is the third important commodity grown in Malaysia after oil palm and rubber. Recently NST report 'How Malaya boosted rice production' considered one of the articles that I like to rewrite for sharing with all my blog followers. The photo above shown about the ‘penghulu’ of Anak Bukit and his pair of oxen were featured on Kedah’s first postage stamp set in 1912. Nowadays travelling through Malaysia's rice bowl state prompts the writer to uncover innovative measures in the past that overcame food shortages and high prices. Travellers able to see paddy fields along the road to many locations. Many can see several farmers spraying fertiliser to maximise rice production in view of food security concerns. I feel that many in the know that Kedah as the rice bowl of Malaysia able to serve the nation by taking all measures to ramp up production. As an ancient industry in which the emergence of villagers with buckets filled with bat droppings from the lonely limestone outcrop are serving as a reminder that people have been working this blessed land since time immemorial reaping bountiful paddy harvests while using guano from the caves in the hill as the main nutrient supplement for their crops. Padi cultivation in Malaysia was introduced from mainland southeast Asia to the Malay Archipelago by Deutero-Malays more than three millennia ago. Over the centuries in which padi planting was the mainstay of the Malay economy and to a large extent are determined their rural way of life. Before the mid-19th century most paddy farmers were concentrated in kampungs along coasts and rivers in which water for irrigation was within easy reach, this led a subsistence life where very little cash was handled. However, there was little incentive to accumulate wealth as unscrupulous chiefs and marauding bandits were quick to pounce on surpluses. Furthermore, the unavailability of savings banks increased the risk of losses through theft, flood or fire. As a result, there was no excess capital for equipment purchases to increase production. This article in ''Anim Agriculture Technology" I write about the history on rice production in Malaysia as one important fact to share.

Many local belief that food shortages and the resulting protectionist policies are not modern phenomena. The global food shortages because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is just the latest crisis. Malaya experienced its first serious rice shortage during World War 1, when Siamese rice harvest failures led to prolonged export bans. Compounded by similar catastrophes in India and Burma than the rice prices happen skyrocketed. Malaya had to spend $42 million on rice import subsidies before some normalcy returned. With the war also causing a significant slump in tin and rubber prices, the colonial government was determined to improve food security. The need to increase planting areas and yields per acre while improving rice quality became urgent even though it was cheaper to import the staple. Later the Federated Malay States government undertook the Krian Irrigation Scheme in northwest Perak. It was the first and only large-scale development of its kind in Malaya until 1930, when the Great Depression brought about an even stronger interest in food production. This resulted in the establishment of the new department known as the  Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), the forerunner of today's government agency. Two years later, DID launched the Sungai Manik Growing Scheme in Perak, where land was parcelled out after the construction of water works. Pioneers found the work of clearing the jungle by themselves too arduous and left. They were eventually lured back from neighbouring rubber and coconut holdings when a subsidy of $33 per acre was handed out.

Drawing lessons from that scheme than DID was more careful in implementing its next project, the Tanjung Karang Irrigation Scheme in Selangor. The multi-staged project progressed smoothly with the Panchang Bedena area the first of several sites to start production in 1937. There are Japanese contribution for paddy industry during WWII. The shortages of three decades earlier came back to haunt Malaya when World War 2 broke out in Europe. Later the anxieties over rice imports prompted work acceleration in Tanjung Karang in September 1939. Although construction came to a halt when conflict arrived on Malayan shores two years later, the introduction of quick maturing Taiwanese varieties by the Japanese proved to be one of the few bright spots for an agricultural sector mired by neglected irrigation works, disrupted credit facilities and transportation failures during the occupation. These new varieties paved the way for double cropping, a practice largely unknown to local farmers before Malaya fell to the Japanese. But double-cropping during those strife-torn years was unsuccessful because the attempts were hurried and resource-deprived. Double cropping was successful in the post-war years through the development of shorter-term main season varieties, better irrigation, introduction of tractors to speed up ploughing and superior fertiliser. The most serious problem during those early days of double cropping surfaced when landlords began demanding double the rent after realising that tenants were harvesting twice a year instead of just once. Over time, this was resolved through compromise. By the late 1950s reported that Malayan padi production had improved by leaps and bounds, enabling yields and planting area to compare favorably with other Southeast Asian counterparts.

The industry steady progress on all fronts in the next two decades made sure that Malaysia was less dependent on imported rice. Later by the 1970s than domestic production met 75 per cent of rice demand in Malaysia. This was an admirable achievement considering the pre-war percentage was well below 40. A bronze sculpture of a farmer working the field with a pair of oxen by the nearby Muzium Padi entrance brings to mind how much padi planting has progressed over the years. Current food supply challenges can be surmounted through concerted efforts by all parties and the success will serve as a basis for this sector to reach even greater heights in future. Paddy industry currently achieved 70% Self Sufficiency Level (SSL) and the rest of importation rice as a basic policy in Malaysia. With the available 'Jelapang Padi' such as in MADA, KADA and many smaller schemes under IADA the rice production are more organised. In 2020 about 644,584 hectares of paddy are grown in two seasons producing 2,343,760 metric tonnes valued at RM2.655 billion. The average production recorded at 3,635 mectri ton per hectare considered a good harvest every season. The most popular variety gron in Malaysia recently include MR315, MR219, MR220CL2 and MRQ76. Thanks..

By,
M Anem,
Putrajaya,
Malaysia
(December 2022).