Former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called on the government to draft a White Paper on the national padi and rice industry to tackle the various challenges affecting the sector.
The Pagoh MP said the main concern now revolved around the availability of local rice in the market.
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The Pagoh MP said the main concern now revolved around the availability of local rice in the market.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/4fmcatyh
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
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LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00Last but not least, I would like to talk about what was just said by the Minister of Agriculture.
00:09I don't want to discuss it further, but the statement that was made in the Parliament just now,
00:15which I also heard, is one of many things.
00:21He raised the question of the price of land, rising to Rp 1,500, and a few other things.
00:27While I know, because I have been there before, and many here have been in the same ministry,
00:35that the issue of paddy and rice industry in this country is not an easy matter.
00:40It is not a small matter, involving more than 200,000 farmers,
00:45millions of areas that can be produced to produce paddy.
00:50But unfortunately, the base of our country's export, which is 70% of land export,
00:57and also 30% of import, seems like it cannot be fulfilled.
01:03In fact, the current status, I heard that 70% has already decreased to 65%.
01:09And that reduction is supplemented with imported rice from abroad.
01:14The second problem is the issue of land rice.
01:17I have always raised this issue, and many others have also raised it,
01:21but the minister did not explain it.
01:23Where is the land rice that is supposed to be more than imported rice?
01:27Now in the market, there is more imported rice.
01:31I met with a rice producer in Malaysia.
01:37What surprised me was when he told me that,
01:41what is happening in the rice industry is a mixture of local rice and imported rice.
01:49So there is imported rice, local rice has been mixed,
01:53but it is described as imported rice.
01:56And imported rice, as mentioned earlier, is placed at a much higher price.
02:02Local rice may be Rp. 26 for 10 kg,
02:05imported rice is Rp. 40 to Rp. 41 for a pot of 10 kg.
02:11So this is a practice that is not only unhealthy,
02:15it is a practice of deception.
02:17The minister mentioned earlier that he cannot solve the existing laws.
02:23Because the laws are quite limited.
02:25In fact, there are many other laws.
02:27I remember when I was the Minister of Trade back then,
02:31and also the rice there,
02:33we have a trade license.
02:36If you want to sell something, it must be verified.
02:39If it is imported, it must be imported.
02:42If it is mixed, it must be mixed.
02:44If it is local, it must be local.
02:46And I thought that a number of people involved in the rice industry
02:51have been making billions of rupiahs.
02:54So I want to make it short.
02:56Before I finish, I think it cannot be solved
02:59by the Minister of Trade in half an hour.
03:04I want to suggest that the government should consider
03:07to provide a white paper for the rice and paddy industry in the country.
03:12And this will take a little comprehensive time.
03:16When the minister said 6 months,
03:18then 6 months,
03:19how can it be 6 months, 6 months?
03:21This cannot be solved.
03:23If the suggestion is made,
03:24like we did for Felda first,
03:27many people have discussed this white paper,
03:32then we can implement it in a comprehensive way.