The Malaysian Insight

ENVIRONMENTAL destruction from agricultural activities has been plaguing the country for decades, as the government is not forward thinking, said economist Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

The government does not have a comprehensive plan to deal with the long-term effects of such destructions, he said.

Uncontrolled encroachment has even compromised lives as there are no clean resources like rivers left to contribute anymore, he said.

“In Malaysia, there is no comprehensive approach that thinks about plantation and forestry, and the environment and the importance for human life in all aspects.

“Almost all rivers are not clear anymore. This is very unfortunate. Logging in Malaysia is extreme,” he said in an online seminar discussing the documentary Petani Bukan Pemalas last night.

Such environmental destruction has also affected food quality.

“Although they can eat enough rice, their food lacks nutrients, vitamins and minerals,” said Jomo.

In fact, most diseases suffered by Malaysians are closely related to the lack of nutrients in their food, he said.

“In the last 60 years, the way of life of our people has changed so that even farmers do not eat enough balanced food.”

Food security

Malaysia also lacks focus on planning for food security in the future, said documentary director Nur Fitri Amir Muhammad.

Nur Fitri, who is also Padi Rescue coordinator, said food security and the rights of farmers go hand in hand as both are interdependent.

“How do we defend food security guarantees if we do not defend our farmers? To increase their income, they have to do two to three jobs.”

Nur Fitri said the government must review the existing system because the current practice restricted innovation in agriculture.

Such restrictions limited farmers, especially those planting padi.

“Farmers who want to innovate are finding it difficult to do so because the rice industry is under control. The price is also controlled. Sometimes farmers have no motivation to do more.

“Indeed, farmers are responsible for the risks. If the price is good, they will make a good profit. But, if they make more factory produce, they will only give a flat price because it is related to the rice market.”

In reality, the agriculture sector is stuck in its ways for a long time and the blame usually goes to the farmers despite other challenges, he said.

“There seems to be no change for farmers in terms of their lives and they are accused of lacking motivation, being lazy people,” he said, adding that such terms hurt farmers.

Among the innovations supported by Padi Rescue, as shown in the documentary, is the right of farmers to use their own seeds.

Self-cultivated seeds are of better quality, in contrast to the perishable seeds acquired by the government.

The padi seeds yield a better harvest and ensure farmers are not trapped in debt when they no longer have to rely on seeds from distributor networks.

According to the farmers, the harvest and debt burden has trapped them for the past decade when the government began to mandate seeds from the scheme introduced in 2009. – January 30, 2021.